This art history video discussion examines Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "The Large Bathers", 1884-87, oil on canvas, (Philadelphia Museum of Art

This art history video discussion examines Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lady Cockburn and Her Three Eldest Sons, 1773, oil on canvas.

This art history video discussion examines Jusepe (Jose) de Ribera's "The Martyrdom of Saint Philip", 1639, oil on canvas (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid). The English Romantic poet, Lord Byron , wrote that the artist, "Spagnoletto [the little Spaniard] tainted/His brush with all the blood of all the sainted" (Don Juan , xiii. 71).

This art history video discussion examines Auguste Rodin's "The Gates of Hell" 1880-1917, plaster (Musee d'Orsay, Paris).When the building, earlier on the site of the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, was destroyed by fire during the Commune in 1871, plans were drawn up to replace it with a museum of decorative arts. Rodin won the competition to design a great set of doors for its entry way. Although the museum was never built, Rodin continued to work on the doors. They became an ongoing project; a grand stage for his sculptural ideas. It's fitting that the plaster of this great unfinished sculpture, The Gates of Hell, is now on display at the d'Orsay, the former railway terminal that was built on this site instead of the museum of decorative arts and that, by lovely coincidence, was converted into one of the world's great art museums.

This art history video discussion examines Eugene Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People", oil on canvas 1830 (Musee du Louvre, Paris).

This art history video discussion examines the "Rosetta Stone", 196 B.C.E., granite (British Museum, London).

This art history video discussion examines Rosso Fiorentino's "The Dead Christ with Angels", c. 1524-7, oil on panel (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).

This art history video discussion looks at Peter Paul Rubens' "The Consequences of War", 1638-39, oil on canvas (Palatine Gallery, Palazzo Pitti, Florence).

This art history video discussion examines Peter Paul Rubens' "Arrival (or Disembarkation) of Marie de Medici at Marseilles",1621-25, oil on canvas, 394 x 295 cm (Musee du Louvre, Paris).

This art history video discussion looks at Saint Peter's Basilica and the numerous architects (see below) who contributed to Saint Peter's Basilica (Basilica Sancti Petri in Latin), begun 1506 completed 1626, Vatican City. Architectural contributors include: Donato Bramante who's design won Julius II's competition; Antonio da Sangallo, a student of Bramante, designed the Pauline Chapel; Fra Giocondo strengthened the foundation; Raphael worked with Fra Giocondo, his redesigned building plan was not executed; Michelangelo designed the dome, crossing, and exterior excluding the nave and facade; Giacomo della Porta, designed the cupola; Carlo Maderno, extended Michelangelo's plan adding a nave and grand facade; Gian Lorenzo Bernini added the piazza, the Cathedra Petri, and the Baldacchino.

This art history video discussion looks at Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, 5th century A.D.

This art history video discussion looks at Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, marble, 359 C.E. (Treasury of Saint Peter's Basilica).

This art history video discussion looks at John Singer Sargent's "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose", 1885-86, oil on canvas (Tate Britain, London).

This art history video discussion looks at Christian Schad's "Self-Portrait", 1927, oil on wood, 29 x 24-3/8 inches, 76 x 62 cm (Tate Modern, London).

This art history video discussion looks at Egon Schiele's "Hermits" 1912, oil on canvas (Leopold Museum, Vienna).

This art history video discussion looks at Egon Schiele's "Seated Male Nude (Self-Portrait)", 1910, oil and gouache on canvas (Leopold Museum, Vienna).

This art history video discussion looks at "The Seated Scribe"‚ c. 2620-2500 B.C.E., c. 4th Dynasty, Old Kingdom, painted limestone with rock crystal, magnesite, and copper/arsenic inlay for the eyes and wood for the nipples, found in Saqqara (Musee du Louvre, Paris).

This art history video discussion looks at Georges Seurat, Bathers at Asnieres, 1884, oil on canvas (National Gallery, London).

This art history video discussion examines Cindy Sherman's "Untitled Film Still #21," 1978, gelatin silver print, 7.5 x 9.5 inches or 19.1 x 24.1 cm (MoMA).