European History

Moskin answered about 1,000 questions over five days.

This Exhibition Lets Visitors 'Chat' With a WWII Veteran Who Liberated Nazi Camp

Interactive installation at the National WWII Museum encourages people to ask Staff Sgt. Alan Moskin about his wartime experiences

The gold figurine stands just 2.5 inches tall.

Amateur Treasure Hunter Unearths Missing Centerpiece of Henry VIII's Crown

The gold figurine, valued at roughly £2 million, depicts 15th-century English king Henry VI

Similar in weight and appearance, these Bronze Age ribs, or curved rods, may have been used as an early form of money.

Bronze Age Europeans Used Rings, Ribs and Ax Blades as Money

New research identifies similarly sized artifacts found across the continent as one of the world's oldest currencies

Art historian Philip Mould identified this miniature, previously thought to be a likeness of Sir Walter Raleigh, as a portrait of Henry III of France.

Petite Portrait of Henry III, King Who Challenged Sexual Norms in 16th-Century France, Discovered

Art dealer Philip Mould purchased the miniature "sight unseen" during lockdown. Now, he's offering it to the Louvre Museum in Paris

The remains of an individual buried at the Augustinian friary, pictured during excavations in 2016

Medieval Britons' Remains Record the 'Skeletal Trauma' Inflicted by Inequality

New study reveals the horrific injuries sustained by lower-class members of English society

The original cover design for Hergé's The Blue Lotus(1936) sold at auction for a record-breaking price on Thursday. The gouache and watercolor drawing was kept folded in a drawer for many years, and the lines where the work was folded are still visible.

Tintin Drawing Sold for €3.2 Million Is the World's Most Expensive Comic Book Art

The original cover design for Hergé's "The Blue Lotus" spent decades tucked away in a drawer

The new plan creates more space for pedestrians and trees.

Paris' Champs-Élysées to Be Transformed Into an 'Extraordinary Garden'

The French avenue's "green makeover" won’t be finished until after the city's 2024 Summer Olympics

An 1843 aquatint by Jean-Pierre-Marie Jazet, after a painting by Carl von Steuben, depicts Napoleon Bonaparte in his final moments.

Rare Doctor's Note Offers Glimpse Into Napoleon's Agonized Final Years

The 1818 missive, which describes the French statesman's failing health, recently sold at auction for $2,000

Detail from Christ Carrying the Cross, a work newly attributed to Greek painter El Greco

Is This Religious Scene a Long-Overlooked El Greco Painting?

A team of Spanish scholars spent two years assessing the small-scale depiction of Christ carrying the cross

This small oil-on-panel work by Rembrandt, Abraham and the Angels (1646), is expected to sell for upward of $20 million.

Rare Rembrandt Biblical Scene Could Fetch $30 Million at Auction

In this intimate scene from Genesis, the artist depicts the moment that Abraham’s wife Sarah learns she will bear a son

An aerial view of the Mauseoleum of Augustus, which was recently renovated and will open to the public in Rome in 2021.

Take a Virtual Tour of the World's Largest Circular Tomb, Augustus' Mausoleum

The Roman landmark will reopen in 2021 after a 13-year restoration

Fascinating finds revealed in 2020 ranged from a portrait of Mary Boleyn to a bust of the Greek god Hermes and one of the world's oldest swords.

Ninety Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2020

This year's most intriguing discoveries include an Aztec skull tower, fossilized footprints and Nazi shipwrecks

The Colosseum is one of Italy's biggest tourist attractions, welcoming millions of visitors every year.

Italy Will Rebuild the Colosseum's Floor, Restoring Arena to Its Gladiator-Era Glory

Officials plan to host concerts and theater productions on the new, retractable platform

This past October, Ruben Ghazarayan (above left with his brother Karen at the 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival) fought on the frontlines of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, his brother is selling their Armenian cross-stones to support their families during the conflict.

In Times of Conflict, How Can We Support the People Who Keep Culture Alive?

A Smithsonian research fellow weighs in on the ways culture proves both vital and resilient

L to R: Leonor Villa, Melania Lasilla and Julia Claveras, three of the ten women executed by a fascist firing squad in August 1936

Remembering the Oft-Overlooked Women Victims of the Spanish Civil War

Archaeologists in northeastern Spain recently unearthed the remains of ten individuals kidnapped and executed in 1936

One of the human bone points analyzed in the study, found by Willy van Wingerden in January of 2017.

Ancient European Hunters Carved Human Bones Into Weapons

Scientists suggest 10,000-year-old barbed points washed up on Dutch beaches were made for cultural reasons

Authorities grew suspicious of the man after he claimed to have found 14,000 Roman coins in a Belgian orchard.

Officials Seize 27,400 Artifacts Looted by a Single French Treasure Hunter

The unidentified man accumulated a sizable collection of ancient coins, jewelry, accessories and sculptures

This rare Anglo Saxon cross spent more than 1,000 years buried in a Scottish field. Left: the cross pre-conservation, and right: the cross mid-cleaning

Freed of 1,000 Years of Grime, Anglo-Saxon Cross Emerges in Stunning Detail

Conservation revealed the artifact, discovered with Scotland's Galloway Hoard, as an example of intricate Viking-era metalwork

Experts have identified the painting as the earliest known version of Jacob Jordaens' The Holy Family (1617–18).

A 400-Year-Old Flemish Masterpiece Spent Decades Hiding in Plain Sight

Officials previously thought that the Jacob Jordaens painting, which hung in a Brussels town hall for 60 years, was a copy

The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg looted books across occupied Europe. Pictured here is a room full of stolen texts in Riga, Latvia.

New Digital Project Details 150 Belgian Libraries Looted by the Nazis

During WWII, a special ideological unit stole some 250,000 to 300,000 books for research and propaganda purposes

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