Works of Art (Part 1)

The Arnolfini Wedding
(Painting)
1434

The Birth of Venus
(Painting)
1480

Perseus With the Head of Medusa
(Painting)
1563

The Persistence of Memory
(Painting)
1931

The Kiss
(Sculpture)
(1886)

Mona Lisa
(Painting)
(1500)

Liberty Leading the People
(Painting)
(1830)

David
(Sculpture)
(1504)

Last Supper
(Painting)
(1495-1498)

The Thinker
(Sculpture)
(1880-1881)

School of Athens
(Painting)
(1509)

The Death of Marat
(Painting)
(1793)

Luncheon on the Grass
(Painting)
(1863)

American Gothic
(Painting)
(1930)

Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1: The Artist's Mother
(Painting)
(1871)

Bird in Space
(Sculpture)
(1919)

Fallingwater
(Building)
(1936)

The Hay Wain
(Painting)
(1821)

Nighthawks
(Painting)
(1942)

Las Meninas
(Painting)
(1656)

The Blue Boy
(Painting)
(1770)

I and the Village
(Painting)
(1911)

The Scream
(Painting)
(1893)

Guernica
(Painting)
(1937)

Les Deoiselles d' Avignon
(Painting)
(1907)

Primavera
(Painting)
(1478)

Impression: Sunrise
(Painting)
(1872)

Burial at Ornans
(Painting)
(1849-1850)

David
(Sculpture)
(c. 1440)

The Ecstacy of Saint Teresa
(Sculpture)
(1646)

The first of the patriarchs, whose lives are told in the book of Genesis. He proved his military prowess during the War of the Kings, rescuing his captured nephew Lot. He also tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade God to spare the evil cities of Sodom (where Lot lived) and Gomorrah. His wife Sarah gave birth to Isaac when she was ninety years old; Sarah evicted Abraham's concubine, Hagar, and her son Ishmael (said to be ancestor of the Arabs). Abraham also bought the Cave of Machpela (near Hebron) as a burial ground for him and his descendants (Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebeccah, and Jacob and Leah are supposedly buried there).

As a child, he was almost sacrificed by his father Abraham on Mt. Moriah, when God tried to test Abraham's faith. He married Rebeccah, and she gave birth to the twins Jacob and Esau, of whom Esau (the older one) was entitled to a birthright. However, Jacob tricked Isaac with Rebeccah's help. This incident caused Esau and Isaac to be mortal enemies. Denied his birthright, Esau went to live in Mt. Seir and became the father of the Edomites.

Esau's twin brother, but had to flee Esau's rage after stealing Esau's blessing and birthright. Jacob loved his uncle Laban's daughter Rachel, but Laban tricked him into marrying her sister Leah first. Leah bore him Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; Leah's maidservant Zilpah, bore Jacob Gad and Asher; Rachel gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin, and Rachel's maidservant Bilhah bore Dan and Naphtali. The Twelve Tribes of Israel descend from Jacob's twelve sons, with the exception of Joseph; Ephraim and Menasseh, sons of Joseph, each head "half-tribes." Jacob was later renamed "Israel," meaning "he who fights with God."

The charismatic attendant to Moses during the Exodus from Egypt. Joshua was one of the twelve spies sent to scout Canaan. Ten of the other spies gave negative reports of the land and were killed in the plague as punishment; Joshua and another spy, Caleb, gave positive reports and were rewarded. Appointed Moses' successor, Joshua led the Israelites in conquering and dividing Canaan. One of his most famous victories was against the city of Jericho, which he destroyed by circling the city seven times while blowing on rams' horns (shofarim).

One of the Judges, leaders who governed the Hebrews in Canaan during the period between Joshua's death and the establishment of the monarchy in Israel; she used to judge while sitting under a palm tree. In battle, she and Barak (son of Abinoam) led the Hebrews to a stunning victory against Jabin, the Canaanite king. She won when the chariots of Sisera, Jabin's general, got stuck in the mud of the river Kishon, and he and his soldiers all fled or were killed. The victory ended an era of persecution of the Hebrews by Jabin.

The nephew of Abraham and later left him to settle around the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. When God prepared to destroy the two cities, two messengers were sent to Lot to evacuate him from the area; as Lot and his family were fleeing, his wife accidentally glanced back, and she was transformed into a pillar of salt. Afterwards, fearing that they were the only people left alive on Earth, his two daughters got him drunk and became pregnant from him, beginning the future nations of Moab and the Ammonites.

Being a "righteous man and blameless in his generation," (Genesis 6:9) was chosen by God to continue the human race, while the rest of mankind was destroyed by a flood because of their wickedness. Afterwards, he and his family populated the Earth. His son Shem is considered the father of the Semitic people (e.g., Arabs and Hebrews), Ham, the ancestor of the Africans, and Japheth, the ancestor of various other races, including Indo-Europeans.