Architect James Stanton-Abbott explains his process for creating a computer-rendered reconstruction of a room in an ancient Roman villa near Pompeii, using images of wall-painting fragments in the RISD Museum and the MFA, Boston.

In earlier decades, retouching (or “inpainting”) using reversible painting materials would have been employed where compositional elements were missing.

What are the essential questions museums need to ask themselves to understand the future of art?

Examining and documenting four Fayum portraits as part of a larger study directed by the J. Paul Getty Museum

RISD student Abena Gyampo traces the history of the hypersexualization of black bodies from the early 19th century to contemporary popular culture

RISD student Tito Crichton-Stuart analyzes Robert Mapplethorpe’s exoticisation of the black body and proposes potential acquisitions that could serve as counterpoints in the collection

RISD Museum’s important Greek inscription dates to the period when Rome dominated the Eastern Mediterranean.

Why is an Etruscan situla, or pail, one of the most important objects in RISD's ancient collection? We examine its form, decoration, and context to understand its unique place in European archaeology.

A rare female artist, Diana Mantuana's engraving of Atilius Regulus in a Barrel plays an important role in the history of the practice of printmaking and its reception in Renaissance Italy.

This rare example of Gorham's "Mythologique" flatware service was purposefully left unfinished as they are samples, combining elaborate hand-worked detail with mechanized brute force.

Anya Ventura visits the studio of Rhode Island stone carver Tracy Mahaffey.

Books of hours made during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance were products of collaboration between scribes, illuminators, bookbinders, and, sometimes, the original patron or owner. A recent acquisition of a French book of hours made in Rouen around 1510 tells the story of this collaboration through the structure of its contents, iconography, and assembly.

This late fifteenth-century Virgin and Child was created with subtlety, flexibility, and portability in mind. These features were central to its medieval use—and its use at the RISD Museum.

Devotional representations of Saint Barbara, a Christian martyr whose legend extended across both Western and Eastern medieval worlds, flourished in fourteenth-century Europe. An examination of the Providence Saint Barbara reveals a sculptural tradition with a complex and colorful practices of medieval devotion to the cult of saints.

It's impossible to know exactly what happened in prehistory, but we archaeologists have excellent tools to help us.

Intern Margaret North finds that every successful treasure hunt has a moment of shining glory.

As a part of its new Clinical Arts and Humanities Program, the Alpert Medical School partnered with the RISD Museum to create the workshop series "From Galleries to Wards." Workshop participants, Samuel Kase and Cia Mathew, reflect on their experience.