Art of History

What did “free speech” mean before the Civil War...and what did it cost? Today, I'm exploring how Americans have debated the meaning of liberty through words, images, and even violence beginning with Samuel Jennings’s 1792 painting 'Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences' in 1790. Commissioned by Philadelphia’s Library Company, this version of liberty is imagined as a goddess who uses her staff to bestow knowledge and emancipation. 

Fast forward six decades, and a very different rod appears in the infamous 1856 caning of Senator Charles Sumner, captured in the print engraving 'Southern Chivalry.' Here, a gold-topped cane becomes a weapon to silence anti-slavery speech on the Senate floor.

Along the way, we’ll trace how abolitionists like Benjamin Franklin, John Quincy Adams, and Frederick Douglass defended speech as action, not abstraction, and how attempts to gag or punish words have only sharpened conflict in American history.

Today's Works: Samuel Jennings, ‘Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences, or The Genius of America Encouraging the Emancipation of the Blacks’ (c. 1792). Library Company of Philadelphia.

and 

John L. Magee, ‘Southern chivalry - argument versus clubs.’ 1856.

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In the final installment of our Impressionism primer, we meet the artists who broke away from light and surface to paint something deeper.

From Van Gogh’s turbulent skies to Gauguin’s mythic Tahitian scenes, Cézanne’s geometric still lifes to Seurat’s scientific dots, the Post-Impressionists transformed 19th-century visual experiments into something stranger, bolder, and more modern. We’ll also drop in to Montmartre with Toulouse-Lautrec, and look ahead to the influence these artists had on the Fauves, the Cubists, and even American modernists. 

Vincent and the Doctor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubTJI_UphPk&ab_channel=DoctorWho 

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In this feed swap episode with ArtMuse, host Grace Anna dives into the life of Simonetta Vespucci: the Genoese noblewoman often credited as the muse for Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and Primavera. Hailed as the most beautiful woman in Florence, Simonetta captivated the city’s most powerful leaders, artists, and intellectuals. But her story has long been shrouded in romantic legend.

Who was the woman behind the myth? And what does it mean to reclaim her narrative today?

You may remember Simonetta from our past discussion of Primavera, but here, ArtMuse peels back the layers of fantasy to reveal the real woman. She's far more complex, and far more human, than history has allowed her to be.

Hosted by art historian Grace Anna, ArtMuse is a show dedicated to restoring the identities of women too often reduced to muses or decorative subjects. Listen or learn more at https://www.artmusepodcast.com/episodes.

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New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch!

Email: [email protected] | Instagram: ⁠@artofhistorypodcast⁠

Travel with me! Visit ⁠https://trovatrip.com/host/profiles/amanda-rgyss⁠ to see trips currently on the horizon.

In Part 2 of our Impressionism series, we leave the floating world of Japan behind and step into the bustling studios, salons, and sun-drenched riverbanks of 19th-century France. This time, we meet the artists who dared to defy the rules (Monet, Morisot, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cassatt) and the dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, who bet everything on their vision.

We’ll explore how these painters broke with tradition to capture the modern world around them…and how their movement spread, against all odds, to American collectors, museums, and artists.

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Before Monet painted water lilies or Degas sketched ballerinas, a wave was crashing in from the East. In this episode, we explore how Japanese woodblock prints—especially Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’—reshaped the way Western artists thought about space, subject, and form. From flattened perspective to everyday scenes, ukiyo-e wasn’t just decorative—it was revolutionary.

We’ll unpack the rise of Japonisme, its deep (and sometimes uneasy) influence on Impressionism, and how one iconic wave helped turn the tide of art history.

Today’s image: Katsushika Hokusai, ‘Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura),’ (1830-32). Woodblock print; ink and color on paper. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast | @matta_of_fact

In this special episode, the host and producer of The Art of Crime, Gavin Whitehead, joins us to explore the fascinating life of Madame Tussaud.

Known for founding the world-renowned wax museum, Tussaud’s story intersects with the dramatic history of the French Revolution, art, and even true crime.

Tune in for a captivating discussion on how Tussaud’s legacy continues to captivate audiences today, and for more, be sure to check out The Art of Crime wherever you get your podcasts!

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New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast | @matta_of_fact

In 1501, Lucrezia Borgia—daughter of the infamous Pope Alexander VI—briefly ruled the Vatican in his absence, a moment as shocking then as it is now. But how did she gain this rare position of power? And how does Frank Cadogan Cowper’s striking Pre-Raphaelite painting mirror our cultural perception of her?

Unravel the myths surrounding Lucrezia Borgia, explore the evolution of women’s roles in the Catholic Church, and examine how history, scandal, and art collide in depicting one of the Renaissance’s most enigmatic women.

Today's Image: Frank Cadogan Cowper, 'Lucretia Borgia Reigns in the Vatican in the Absence of Pope Alexander VI' (c. 1910). Oil on canvas. Tate Britain, London.

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New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch!

Email: [email protected]

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Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus reimagines Ovid's Metamorphoses, transforming the myth of Icarus into a meditation on human indifference and folly. This episode unpacks how Bruegel intertwines visual storytelling with contemporary Dutch and Flemish proverbs, reframing Icarus’ tragic fall as a subtle commentary on the world’s disregard for individual suffering.

Today’s artwork: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (c. 1560). Oil on canvas. Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels.

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Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast | @matta_of_fact

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Inspired by The Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I at Hatfield Park, an extravagant cake was recently unveiled by Emma Jayne Cake Design, for Cake International 2024. Learn the secrets of this enthralling portrait and its cake twin on today's art bite!

Today's works:

Emma Jayne Cake Design, "Elizabeth I" and Unknown Artist, Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (c. 1600-1603). Hatfield House, United Kingdom.

Witchcraft has captivated the imagination of society for centuries, and is today viewed as an enigmatic symbol of limitless power and feminine agency. But this wasn’t always the case. Through art, we can track how witches, once considered monstrous agents of the devil, have been recast as complex figures of mystery, strength, and even allure.

Today's Images: Martin Schongauer, ‘The Temptation of St. Anthony’ (c. 1470); Hans Baldung Grien, ‘The Sorceress’ (1510);  Francisco Goya, 'Witches’ Flight' (1798); Luis Ricardo Falero, 'Witches Going to Their Sabbath' (1878); and Albert Joseph Pénot, 'The Bat Woman' (1890).

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Substack: https://mattaoffact.substack.com/p/off-with-her-head-anne-boleyn

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New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast