Movements

Understand the visual languages that shaped the artworks in the library.

Featured movements

Styles, ideas, and techniques over time
Mona Lisa

Renaissance

15th–16th century

A revival of classical ideas that placed human experience, proportion, and observation at the center of art.

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The Birth of Venus

Early Renaissance

14th–15th century

A period of renewed classical learning and experimentation with space, anatomy, and myth.

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The Creation of Adam

High Renaissance

late 15th–early 16th century

The Renaissance at its most monumental, emphasizing harmony, scale, and ideal form.

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The Starry Night

Post-Impressionism

late 19th century

Artists pushed beyond impressionist observation toward emotion, structure, and personal vision.

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Girl with a Pearl Earring

Dutch Golden Age

17th century

A flourishing of Dutch art focused on light, realism, and everyday life.

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The Night Watch

Baroque

17th century

A dramatic, theatrical style emphasizing movement, emotion, and strong contrasts of light.

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The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Ukiyo-e

17th–19th century

Japanese woodblock prints celebrating daily life, landscapes, and fleeting beauty.

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The Scream

Expressionism

late 19th–early 20th century

A movement focused on inner emotion over external realism, often using distortion and bold color.

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Melencolia I

Northern Renaissance

15th–16th century

A Northern European Renaissance known for detail, symbolism, and mastery of printmaking.

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Strawberry Thief

Arts and Crafts

late 19th century

A movement that championed handcrafted beauty and design integrity in response to industrialization.

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Book of Kells – Chi Rho Page

Insular art

7th–9th century

A style from Ireland and Britain known for intricate interlace and illuminated manuscripts.

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Gutenberg Bible – Printed Page

Early printing

mid-15th century

The emergence of print technology that transformed access to knowledge and visual culture.

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The Bayeux Tapestry (Scene Detail)

Romanesque

11th–12th century

A medieval style defined by narrative clarity, stylized figures, and strong symbolic presence.

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Impressionism

Impressionism

late 19th century

A movement devoted to capturing light, atmosphere, and the fleeting feel of modern life.

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Romanticism

Romanticism

late 18th–mid 19th century

A movement that favored emotion, drama, and the sublime over calm order and restraint.

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Photography

Photography

late 19th–20th century

A visual medium that reshaped how the world was recorded, remembered, and composed.

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