Art Meets Science

This small device flashes red if a visitor gets too close to an artwork or fails to wear their face mask correctly.

Italian Museum Uses Cameras to Track How Visitors Engage With Art

A new A.I. system hopes to help curators determine artworks' "attraction value" and optimize gallery layouts

Liz Orton photographed seeds sent to Kew Gardens in London as long as a century ago.

Take a Virtual Tour of Artworks Inspired by Efforts to Preserve Plant Biodiversity

A traveling exhibition showcases five artists whose creations engage with science and ecology

The team conducted a non-destructive analysis of a panel depicting the prophet Nathan.

Canterbury Cathedral's 12th-Century Stained Glass May Be England's Oldest

New research suggests four of the English church's intricate windows were in place when Henry II's men murdered Thomas Becket in 1170

Nancy Holt on a New York City rooftop in October 1977

Archives of Groundbreaking Land Artist Nancy Holt Head to the Smithsonian

The papers illuminate the life of a woman whose career was often overshadowed by that of her husband, Robert Smithson

Presumed self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1512, red chalk on paper

Historians Identify 14 Living Relatives of Leonardo da Vinci

An ongoing effort to trace the artist's male lineage may help researchers sequence his genome

Greek police recovered two paintings by Pablo Picasso (left) and Piet Mondrian (right) this week, after the works were stolen in a 2012 heist of the National Gallery.

How a Self-Professed 'Art Freak' Pulled Off a Bold Heist at Greece's National Museum

Greek police recovered two paintings by Picasso and Mondrian, stolen 9 years ago in an early morning caper, after a 49-year-old man confessed to the crime

A proposed government plan will move the A303 highway, pictured here in the distance behind Stonehenge's iconic structures, underground. But Unesco warned in a report Monday that the efforts might endanger the site's OVU, or outstanding universal value.

Unesco Weighs Changes to Stonehenge's Cultural Heritage Status

A new report also cited Venice and the Great Barrier Reef as sites that might be placed on the World Heritage in Danger list

An eight-foot-wide model of the intact monument was placed in an acoustics-testing chamber. Researchers found that sounds emanating from near the center reverberated within the structure.

What Did Stonehenge Sound Like?

Researchers have developed a new understanding of what it meant to be a member of the inner circle

Rendering of ReWildAR, an augmented reality experience debuting at the Smithsonian's "Futures" exhibition later this year

Immerse Yourself in Five Alternate Worlds Envisioned by Leading Artists

The Smithsonian's "Futures" exhibition features commissions by Beatriz Cortez, Nettrice Gaskins, Soo Sunny Park, Devan Shimoyama, Tamiko Thiel and /p

This 15th-century illuminated manuscript depicts a courtly gathering attended by a host of young men wearing the pointed shoes fashionable at the time.

This Fancy Footwear Craze Created a 'Plague of Bunions' in Medieval England

Elite Europeans who wore pointed shoes toed the line between fashion and fall risk, a new study suggests

Oil Spill #10, Oil Slick at Rip Tide, Gulf of Mexico, June 24, 2010 (detail) by Edward Burtynsky, 2010

The Sad Truths Behind These Unsettling Works of Art

A new exhibition reflects on the haunting aesthetics of human impact on the planet

Researchers Anthony Bourached and George Cann trained an algorithm to recreate "lost" works of art like this Modigliani portrait.

Did Modernist Master Modigliani Paint a New Portrait Over a Likeness of His Ex?

A.I. reconstruction reveals hidden image that may depict the Italian artist's former girlfriend, Beatrice Hastings

Iran's Lake Urmia, once one of the largest saltwater lakes in the world, is vanishing due to climate change.

Can Climate Fiction Writers Reach People in Ways That Scientists Can't?

A new subgenre of science fiction leans on the expertise of biologists and ecologists to imagine a scientifically plausible future Earth

The newly released ID-Art app allows the public to easily identify and report stolen art.

Interpol's New App Combats Art Crime and Protects Cultural Heritage

Amateur sleuths, collectors and dealers can use ID-Art to access the international organization's database of 52,000 stolen artworks

A dancer performs during the public presentation of a life-size chocolate version of Picasso's Guernica.

Spanish Confectioners Create Life-Size Chocolate Replica of Picasso's 'Guernica'

Local artisans undertook the ambitious project in honor of the 85th anniversary of the bombing depicted in the famed anti-war mural

Researchers created this 3- by 2-centimeter version of The Starry Night in just four minutes.

Scientists Use Laser Paintbrush to Craft Mini Version of van Gogh's 'Starry Night'

The colorful "brushstrokes" are "reversible, rewritable [and] erasable," says scholar Galina Odintsova

A close-up view of Picasso's Seated Man (1917) shows the deep cracks running along its surface.

Why Did This Picasso Painting Deteriorate Faster Than Its Peers?

Study examines how animal glue, canvases, layers of paint and chemicals interacted to produce cracks in one work but not in others

Researchers used A.I. to reconstruct the likely colors and brushstrokes of this landscape, which Pablo Picasso painted over to create a 1902 portrait.

Scientists Used A.I. to Recreate a Landscape Hidden Beneath a Picasso Painting

Physical reconstructions of the early 20th-century depiction of Barcelona are now on sale for $11,111.11 each

A new Netflix documentary, "This Is a Robbery," delves into the mystery of a 1990 art heist.

Five Things to Know About the Gardner Museum Heist—the Biggest Art Theft in Modern History

In 1990, two thieves made off with a $500 million cache of art by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and more. Three decades later, the works remain missing

The yazh's design is based on detailed descriptions of the ancient instrument.

Listen to the First Song Ever Recorded on This Ancient, Harp-Like Instrument

Tharun Sekar, a luthier based in southern India, has painstakingly recreated the long-lost yazh

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