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Itsukushima Shrine is a Shinto shrine on the island of the same name, also known as Miyajima, located in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Traditionally founded in the 6th century CE, the present layout of buildings dates to the 12th...

Herman Melville (1819-1891) was a 19th-century American author of novels, short stories and poetry. He is best known for his novel Moby Dick, published in 1851, and his short stories Bartleby the Scrivner and Billy Budd, Sailor. Despite his...

Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497-1543 CE) was a German Renaissance painter who is most famous for his portraits. A versatile artist and superb draughtsman, Holbein was accomplished in different mediums from woodcut engravings to murals...

Silenus (also spelt Silenos) is a rustic god of the forest, drunkenness and wine-making in Greek mythology. He is best known as the companion and foster father of the god Dionysos. Silenus is closely associated with the satyrs, sometimes...

The Pillow Book (Makura no Soshi) is a personalised account of life at the Japanese court by Sei Shonagon which she completed c. 1002 CE during the Heian Period. The book is full of humorous observations (okashi) written in the style of a...

Hanji is the name of the handmade paper produced in ancient Korea from the 1st century BCE. Made from mulberry trees its exceptional quality made it a successful export, and it was widely used not only for writing but also interior walls...

Rose-and-nightingale paintings and patterns (gul-u-bulbul) are a subtheme of the bird-flower (gul-u-morḡ) genre in Persian art. Bird-and-flower paintings are of Chinese origin and include pictorial elements such as flowers and plants, birds...

Cwenthryth of Mercia (also given as Cwoenthryth, 9th century CE) was the daughter of King Coenwulf (r. 796-821 CE). Little is known of her actual life but she later became infamous in the 12th century CE through the legend of St. Kenelm as...

The ancient Egyptians enjoyed storytelling as one of their favorite pastimes. Inscriptions and images, as well as the number of stories produced, give evidence of a long history of the art of the story in Egypt dealing with subjects ranging...

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, writer, naturalist, and political activist. He is best known for his book Walden, published in 1854, which recounts his two-year experiment living alone in a small cottage at Walden...