This websites answers the question, "What is a Symbol?" Click on the sculptures for a description of the symbols in each work.

This websites provides a detailed article about symbolism in art.

Along with hieroglyphics, obelisks and geometric patterns, cats feature prominently in ancient Egyptian art, reflecting the animal's unique status among the people who dwelled along the Nile River. The animals were initially adopted as...

The Lakshmana temple was the first of several temples built by the Chandella kings in their newly-created capital of Khajuraho. View some of the sculpted friezes contained within this temple.

Some of the oldest known art may hint at the beginning of language development, while later examples portray narratives with human and animal figures. What does the oldest known art in the world tell us about the people who created it?...

In Anglo-Saxon art there is always more than meets the eye. The dense animal patterns that cover many Anglo-Saxon objects are not just pretty decoration; they have multi-layered symbolic meanings and tell stories. View examples of their...

Personal ornamentation and engraved designs are the earliest evidence of art in Africa and are inextricably tied up with the development of human cognition. View pictures and read about prehistoric art in Africa.

Balinese stories are continually told and retold. The Kayonan is the first and last puppet seen in the Balinese wayang shadow theater. As it dances, it symbolizes the living tradition of storytelling that deeply explains and entertains,...

There are many Hindu deities, some with great and others with limited powers. Most Hindus focus their devotion primarily on one of these, whom they regard as supreme. The greatest deities have complex natures and are shown in art in a...

Victorian Web offers a commentary on Pre-Rapaelite art and how to understand the symbolism in the paintings.

A site by Tulku Thondup explaining the significance of Buddhist art in Tibet. This is an excerpt from a talk given at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1990. The basis is how the Buddhist devotees in Tibet use religious objects as tools...

PBS profiles the exhibit at the Denver Art Museum about how design is relevant in our society. There are interviews, images, and video--enough for developing your own lesson plan.

The earliest surviving representations of the Buddha date from hundreds of years after his death, so they are not portraits in the usual sense. Buddha images vary greatly from place to place and period to period, but they almost always...

The pinnacle of Yayoi Kusama's success is the art installation "Narcissus Garden" where she staged stage 1,500 mass-produced plastic silver globes on the lawn outside the Italian Pavilion. View pictures and read the symbolism behind...

The Augustus of Primaporta is one of the ways that the ancients used art for propagandistic purposes. View pictures of the statue and read about the symbolism it contains in this article.

This is a container to hold cold, fresh water made especially for use in the Japanese tea gathering. Its shape reminds us of a wooden bucket used to carry water from a well, but it is made out of porcelain, a glazed ceramic fired at a...

Owning a pistol was a symbol of a samurai's power, rank, and wealth in Edo, Japan. They were often decorated with the samurai's family crest. View pictures and read descriptions of these weapons.

Penden Lhamo is one of the more wrathful female deities of Buddhism. Among her many roles, she is the special protector of the city of Lhasa, the Gelukpa Order, and the Dalai Lamas of Tibet. She was invited to Tibet in around the...

"The Valley of Mexico from the Hillside of Santa Isabel" by Velasco represents an important period in the development of Mexico's national identity and an important chapter in the history of Mexican art. Velasco's landscapes became...

There is significant debate concerning the development of the Buddha image--where it first occurred, why, and when. Broadly speaking, the image of the Buddha emerged during the first few centuries C.E. in two major centers of Indian art...

In the sacred architecture of the Roman and Byzantine empires, domes were viewed as symbols of heaven. Correggio merged this symbolism with the Renaissance's fascination for three-dimensional illusion. He transformed the dome of the...

The art of medieval India, like the art of medieval Europe, was primarily in the service of religion. The supple and expressive quality of the dancing Shiva is one of the touchstones of South Asian, and indeed, world sculpture. View...

A monumental tube of lipstick sprouting from a military vehicle appeared, uninvited, on the campus of Yale University amidst the 1969 student protests against the Vietnam War. Claes Oldenburg made this sculpture and it served as a stage...

This is an image of the compassionate and merciful bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who are destined to become buddhas but postpone that final state in order to help humanity. The name Avalokiteshvara...