Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Religious History

Created by French sculptor Paul Dubois, the statue is located in a public square in front of the Église Saint-Augustin.

Man Arrested in Connection With Theft of Sword From Historic Joan of Arc Statue in Paris

City leaders vowed to repair or replace the damaged artwork by sculptor Paul Dubois, which is on loan from the Musée d’Orsay

Aerial view of Vardo, Norway, the fishing town at the center of the 17th-century Finnmark witch trials

How a Sudden Winter Storm in 1617 Sparked the Deadliest Witchcraft Trials in Norwegian History

During the 17th-century Finnmark witch trials, 91 people were executed in Norway’s northernmost region, mainly by burning at the stake

A rendering of how The Light That Shines Through the Universe will look on the High Line

A Stunning Sculpture of the Buddha Modeled After a Destroyed Sixth-Century Statue Is Coming to New York City’s High Line

Known as “The Light That Shines Through the Universe,” the 27-foot-tall artwork created by Tuan Andrew Nguyen will be installed on the Plinth this spring

Fascinating finds unveiled in 2025 ranged from an Auguste Rodin sculpture to a ring bearing the likeness of the goddess Venus Victrix.

Cool Finds

Seventy-Two Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2025, From a Luxury Spa in Pompeii to a Pair of World War I Messages in a Bottle

The year’s most exciting discoveries included the site where a young George Washington stopped a friendly fire incident, the missing torso of a Buddha statue and a hidden Picasso painting

Mary wrote the letter in French around 2 a.m. on the day of her execution.

Mary, Queen of Scots, Wrote This Letter Hours Before She Was Executed. Her Words Are Going on Display for the First Time in Years

The deposed Scottish queen wrote the four-page missive to her brother-in-law just a few hours before her execution in 1587

The text contains illustrations of plants, animals and biblical scenes.

See the ‘Mona Lisa of Illuminated Manuscripts,’ a 600-Year-Old Bible Covered in Intricate Illustrations

Created between 1455 and 1461, the Borso D’Este Bible is currently on view in the Italian Senate in Rome

The painting was rehung in its original place at the church during a ceremony earlier this month.

This Painting Hung at a Church in Mexico for 200 Years Before It Was Stolen in 2001. Now, It’s Finally Returning Home

Titled “St. Francis of Assisi,” the 1747 standing portrait of the church’s namesake was stolen in 2001, along with several other items

The ˁAin Samiya goblet, pictured here as a replica, is currently held by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The real artifact is damaged, with some of the picture missing.

Scholars Thought This Ancient Silver Goblet Told One Myth for 50 Years. Is It Actually Telling Another Story?

A new study asserts that the Bronze Age goblet may be one of the earliest known depictions of cosmology, featuring gods creating celestial order from chaos

Hell, unknown artist, circa 1510 to 1520

This Disturbing 16th-Century Painting of Hell Linked Satan and His Demons With the New World Beyond Europe

The panel features monsters with African, Indigenous Caribbean and intersex features, encouraging viewers to connect the sins and punishments depicted to those considered “other”

The Parthenon, photographed here on October 17, is free from scaffolding for the first time in decades.

You Can See the Parthenon Without Scaffolding for the First Time in Decades

The temporary structures will return next month—but in the meantime, visitors will enjoy rare unobstructed views of the ancient hilltop temple in Athens

Installation view of "Divine Egypt," now open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through January 2026

Meet 25 of the Ancient Egyptians’ Most Significant Gods and Goddesses, From the Falcon-Headed Horus to the Sky Deity Hathor

“Divine Egypt,” a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, features nearly 250 artifacts representing the rich pantheon of Egyptian deities

The bronze coins were found in a pit inside a complex of tunnels dug during the Great Revolt.

Cool Finds

Did Ancient Jews Hide These Coins for Safekeeping During a Fourth-Century Revolt Against Roman Rule?

A cache of coins bearing the faces of the Roman emperors Constantius II and Constans I was discovered in underground tunnels created by Jews in what is now northern Israel

Some of the artifacts stored in the al-Kawthar building had been unearthed at the St. Hilarion Monastery.

Archaeologists in Gaza Rushed to Rescue Thousands of Ancient Artifacts From an Impending Airstrike

In just six hours, workers evacuated 70 percent of the historic collection, including objects from one of the Middle East’s oldest Christian monasteries. The remaining 30 percent was lost in the attack

The plaster artifact is about one foot long, seven inches wide and one inch thick.

Cool Finds

This Christian Cross Found in Abu Dhabi Illuminates the Lives of Monks Who Lived 1,400 Years Ago

Researchers discovered the intricately decorated artifact at an archaeological site near a seventh-century C.E. monastery on the island of Sir Bani Yas

The church was towed at a speed of 0.31 to 0.93 miles per hour.

To Save This Historic Church, Workers Loaded It Onto Trailers and Rolled It Across Town. See How They Pulled It Off

The 672.4-ton church is one of several buildings that have been relocated in the Swedish town of Kiruna, where Europe’s largest underground iron ore mine is weakening the ground beneath the city center

The Chapel Choir of the University of Exeter performed the monastic songs from the Buckland Book.

Cool Finds

Hear the Long-Lost Chants of English Monks Whose Monasteries Were Dissolved by Henry VIII

A university choir has revived music found hiding in plain sight in a book once used by monks at southern England’s Buckland Abbey

An illustration of Thomas Stukeley kneeling in front of Pope Gregory XIII and Philip II of Spain, who urged him to raise a rebellion against Elizabeth I of England

The Swashbuckling Tudor Mercenary Who Was Killed in a Battle That Claimed the Lives of Three 16th-Century Kings

Englishman Thomas Stukeley offered his services to various Catholic powers. He died while fighting for the Portuguese at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir on August 4, 1578

The Stolen Kiss, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1787

These Salacious Artworks Chronicle the History of Adultery, From Biblical Punishments to Royal Mistresses

Artists such as Rembrandt, the Pre-Raphaelites and Georgian caricaturists used their craft to examine the morality and ramifications of adulterous affairs

Thomas More was beheaded on Tower Hill on July 6, 1535. Exactly 490 years later, St. Dunstan's Church in Canterbury, England, announced a proposal to exhume and conserve his skull.

An English Church Wants to Exhume the Skull of Thomas More, Tudor Statesman Beheaded by Henry VIII Nearly 500 Years Ago

The king accused More of treason and ordered his execution in 1535. Now, St. Dunstan’s hopes to conserve the Catholic saint’s remains ahead of the quincentenary of his death

The Hall of Constantine's Vision of the Cross depicts the emperor ahead of his battle with Maxentius.

The Vatican’s Newly Restored Raphael Rooms Spotlight the Great Artist Who Died Before Finishing His Final Project

As specialists cleaned and studied the rooms in the Apostolic Palace, they learned new information about the Renaissance painter’s experimental techniques

Page 2 of 24