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Sculpture

Syria's National Museum reopening to visitors in Damascus on January 8

Six Ancient Roman Statues Have Been Stolen From Syria’s National Museum

The theft is a serious loss for the country’s cultural heritage, which had already sustained extensive damage during a long civil war

The bidding will start at a number determined by the price of gold on November 18.

This Fully Functioning Toilet Made From Solid Gold Could Sell for More Than $10 Million at Auction

Made by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, the 18-karat gold toilet weighs 220 pounds. Another version of the artwork was famously stolen in a 2019 burglary

This 14th- or 15th-century aquamanile, a vessel for pouring water in domestic and religious settings, shows a sexual depiction of the legend of Aristotle and Phyllis.

See How These Medieval Artists Explored the Many Meanings of Love and Desire in a New Exhibition at the Met Cloisters

The show features more than 50 paintings, manuscripts, textiles and other artworks created in Western Europe between the 13th and 15th centuries

The Vaillancourt Fountain at Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco

Can This Controversial Brutalist Fountain in San Francisco Be Saved From Demolition?

Critics have called the Vaillancourt Fountain an “eyesore,” while supporters say it’s an important chapter in the city’s history

The pillar is topped with a simple carving of a human face.

Cool Finds

A Human Face Was Carved Into This Stone Pillar in Turkey 11,000 Years Ago

The T-shaped pillar is the first with a face to be found in the Stone Age archaeological sites of Turkey’s Taş Tepeler

The museum is housed in the 17th-century Hotel Salé.

A Free Outdoor Sculpture Park Dedicated to Pablo Picasso Is Coming to Paris

The Picasso Museum will build the open-air park by 2030. The nearly $60 million expansion will also include a new wing designed to house temporary exhibitions

A portrait of Johanna Koerten, whose "thread painting" for the wife of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I sold for more money than Rembrandt's The Night Watch, one of the most famous artworks of all time

This 17th-Century Female Artist Was Once a Bigger Star Than Rembrandt. Why Did History Forget About Johanna Koerten and Her Peers?

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts spotlights 40 women who found fame in the Low Countries between 1600 and 1750, including Koerten, Judith Leyster and Clara Peeters

The researchers connected an inscription on a marble pedestal to the well-preserved marble sculpture.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Say They’ve Solved the Mystery of This Marble Statue. Its Subject Was a Woman Who Might Have Helped an Ancient City Achieve Political Freedom

The marble sculpture, discovered at Chersonesos Taurica in Crimea in 2003, has been identified as a woman named Laodice

The silver statue of Abraham Lincoln was worth an estimated $166,000 as a historic work of art.

Thieves Steal and Destroy Solid Silver Statue of Abraham Lincoln Created by Mount Rushmore Sculptor Gutzon Borglum

Police have arrested and charged three suspects in connection with the incident, which took place at at the Houmas House Estate and Gardens in Louisiana

Located nearly 60 feet below the surface, the statue is cleaned every year.

See How Divers Clean This Statue of Jesus Christ Submerged Nearly 60 Feet Below the Surface of the Mediterranean

Located off the coast of northern Italy, “Christ of the Abyss” was installed in 1954 to commemorate lives lost at sea. The statue receives a routine cleaning every year

The lion may have been brought from China in the mid-1260s and modified in Venice between 1270 and 1290.

New Research

Was Venice’s Iconic Winged Lion of St. Mark’s Square Made in Ancient China?

New research suggests that the famous bronze statue may have originally guarded a Chinese tomb before arriving in Venice in the late 13th century

Banksy's Piranhas will move into storage ahead of its 2026 debut at the London Museum's new location.

Banksy Transformed This Police Box Into a Piranha Tank. Soon, the Artwork Will Go on Permanent Display in London

The piece was part of the anonymous artist’s animal series that appeared around the city last summer. In 2026, it will make its debut at the London Museum

The bronze, curving panel is meant to resemble a sheet of paper coming out of a printer.

Nobody Has Been Able to Solve the CIA’s Famous ‘Kryptos’ Sculpture. Soon, the Solution Will Be Sold to the Highest Bidder

Three of the four messages carved into the sculpture have been deciphered, but the final puzzle has left amateur sleuths stumped. In November, the solution could fetch up to $500,000 at auction

The carved head is made of red sandstone.

Cool Finds

Archaeology Student Discovers Carefully Carved Stone Head at Viking Settlement in Scotland’s Orkney Islands

Found on the island of Rousay, the red sandstone artifact adds to the layered history of an archaeological site in the Scottish archipelago

The Apollo fountain, which depicts the mythological god riding his chariot

You Can Now Have a Conversation With the Statues at Versailles Using Artificial Intelligence

Through the palace’s smartphone app, visitors can speak with nearly two dozen stunning sculptures and fountains at the historic site in France

Researchers found a 4,000-year-old handprint on the bottom of a "soul house," a clay funerary object popular during Egypt's Middle Kingdom period.

Cool Finds

See a Stunningly Well-Preserved, 4,000-Year-Old Handprint Left Behind by an Ancient Egyptian Potter

The find “takes you directly to the moment when the object was made,” says curator Helen Strudwick

Comedian, Maurizio Cattelan, 2019

These Bananas Duct-Taped to the Wall Are Worth Millions. Hungry Museumgoers Keep Eating Them

A visitor recently ate the banana from Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian,” which was on view at the Center Pompidou-Metz. The artwork, which sold for $6.2 million last year, has met this fate before

Walter De Maria's The New York Earth Room, which opened in 1977

New York City Loft Filled With 280,000 Pounds of Dirt Lives on After Death of Beloved Caretaker

Bill Dilworth, who died at age 70, had carefully maintained the curious art installation—known as “The New York City Earth Room”—and charmed visitors since 1989

An engraving by Edward Savage, after Robert Edge Pine's 1784-1788 painting Congress Voting Independence

America's 250th Anniversary

These Daring Revolutionary-Era Artists Promoted the Patriot Cause From the Heart of Enemy Territory

A new book explores how painters, sculptors and writers, especially women and people of color, used their craft to advocate for American independence while living in George III’s capital city

The exhibition features paintings, sculptures, audio recordings and more.

The Louvre Invited 100 Contemporary Artists to Copy—and Reinterpret—Its Masterpieces. Here’s What They Made

The results range from faithful reproductions to complete reinventions of renowned works by artists such as Delacroix, Goya and Vermeer

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