The [Valdivia] figurines often possessed both feminine and masculine attributes, such as the breasts of a woman and the genitals of a man.

The variety of gesture and detail that makes Tanagra figurines so appealing is due to a fairly complex method of manufacture.

The main focus of Byzantine devotion was the Virgin Mary, but certain other sacred figures were prominent in Byzantine spiritual life as well.

Discover the fascinating history behind these enigmatic objects.

Teen Advisory Group Member Audrey introduces teen blog readers to the exhibition Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop and to William Mumler, one of the early pioneers of trick photography.

As with other forms of Islamic ornamentation, artists freely adapted and stylized basic human and animal forms, giving rise to a great variety of figural-based designs.

Guest Blogger Ambar shares her experience participating in Teen Studio—Figure Explorations and invites teens to check out upcoming Teen Programs.

The vast majority of [the figurines with articulated limbs] have suspension holes on top of their heads; the dangling arms and legs were in motion when the figurines were shaken or hung.

Production Editor Dana Miller introduces a new episode of MetCollects that takes an in-depth look at an ancient Olmec kneeling figure new to the Museum's collection.

This incisive publication explores the formal, conceptual, political, and technical aspects of the work of contemporary American artist Charles Ray. For Charles Ray (born 1953), sculpture is a way of thinking that informs his work across a wide range of media-from gelatin silver prints to porcelain, fiberglass, wood, and steel. Spanning the whole of his fifty-year career, Charles Ray: Figure Ground considers the artist's intriguing, often unsettling sculptures from both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in relation to his early photographs and performances. It also explores his interest in Mark Twain's 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Kelly Baum addresses patterns and patterning in Ray's art, foregrounding his engagement with preexisting traditions, classicism among them, as well as charged issues around race, gender, and sexuality. Brinda Kumar investigates the modalities of touch that run through Ray's work, while a reflection by Ray himself and a conversation between the artist and Hal Foster offer further insights into his multifaceted practice.