Art History by Lakshmi

We see beautiful art from all over the world in museums. But a lot of those artifacts have complicated histories. Countries those artifacts are from have been asking for their return. We take a look at some of the artifacts and see what their background.

We discussed how Tyrian purple was made in the previous episode. Here, we see how it influenced the world.

Tyrian isn't just the name of a character from game of thrones. It's also the name of a dye: Tyrian purple. What’s tyrian purple? And why do we need a whole episode on it? Well, because it’s the oldest, most famous, most expensive, most royal, most vibrant and possibly also the most foul smelling dye in the world. So this episode has a lot to live up to.

Green is a difficult pigment to make and for much of history, it was a pigment that would turn and degrade into a different hue. Find out more about verdigris, a pigment used throughout the world, and why its extensive use means that the art that we have today used to look completely different back in the day.

Gauguin was incredible and influenced generations of artists, but he had a very dark side to him. How does this influence how his art is seen? Should this influence how his art is seen? Listen to the podcast episode and let me know how you feel about his works!

A little bug in the Americas changed the art world and gave us carmine. Kings coveted it. Artists Loved it. Find out more about cochineal red or carmine!

Imagine a pigment that is so mysterious we only unlocked its secrets in the 1960s. That pigment is called Maya blue and it has an incredible, if not gruesome, backstory to it.

Why does art have so many nudes? Ever wondered this? Well, let's go all the way back to prehistoric times and see if we can make some sense out of this.