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An overview of the Art of Pompeii to the music of Alison Balsom playing Neruda's Trumpet Concerto in E Flat and Haydn's Trump Concerto in E Flat. A wide range of styles. Anyone else see surrealism and German expressionism? Surrealism - Villa Lobos - Joan Baez

The art of Pompeii’s Temple of Isis. Music is “Roman Banquet,” an original composition for replica lyre in the ancient Hypophrygian Mode, by Michael Levy. I really like this one. It’s the strangest mix of image styles that makes me think of Medieval AND modern art. First announcement of a video since the channel went over a million views! Thank you. As always, the ads belong to the copyright owners, not to me.

The mosaics and sculptures from the House of the Faun in Pompeii. Think of these as the ultimate jigsaw puzzles for archeologists. A selection of still lifes, aquatic life mosaics, as well as a complex battle scene between Alexander the Great and Darius. The artistry is truly astonishing. If you enjoy humor as well as beauty, I'd also recommend "Journal of Alexander the Great" by Henry Livingston (1793), which describes what REALLY went on in that very battle.

Luigi Bazzani (1836-1927) painted these images from 1880 to 1915. They were of such fine craftsmanship that they were noted for their detail and prized by the excavators of the site. The music is from "Five Variants of Dives and-Lazarus" by Vaughan Williams. I've also uploaded an improved version of the Alias music video "Here She Comes" by Bonnie Tyler. The show features a sexy CIA spy and this music was used in the rock score of the colorized version of Metropolis.

Yan Liben (AD 600–673) came from a family of government officials and succeeded his brother, Yan Lide, as minister of public works. Yan Liben was also imperial architect under Emperor Gaozong. His most famous work was the Thirteen Emperor Scroll. I can only imagine that there were contemporary portraits from which Yan Liben worked, as there is great individuality in the portraits.

Wu Daozi (AD 680 - c. 760) was one of the masters of the seventh century, Tang dynasty. Few of his works survive, as he specialized in murals in Buddhist and Daoist temples. Music is Flower Offering Hymn. Note the intricacies of costume and here, too, the women are wearing white on forehead, nose and chin.

Zhao Yan - Eight Gentlemen on a Spring Tour An accomplished painter, known for his human figures and horses, Zhao Yan (AD 880-923) was a politician. As the son-in-law of the emperor, Zhao Yan lived luxuriously and his reputation is for having given such bad advice that he ended up losing his head. Note the paper lanterns on the horses, the men all riding with heels down, and the horses' musculature. Music - Days of Emancipation

A painting from the Six-Dynasties period of Chinese art - AD 220-589 - depicting the collating of historical texts. Yang Zihua is known for his horses. One strange aspect is the cosmetic use by the women of bright white on foreheads and the bridge of the nose. The music is Flowing Water - Gu Guanren.

Yan Liben (AD 600–673) came from a family of government officials and succeeded his brother, Yan Lide, as minister of public works. Yan Liben was also imperial architect under Emperor Gaozong. The art is ink with some color. There's a feel of caricatures in both the art and the music, and he creates absolutely marvelous portraits of non-Chinese coming to pay tribute to the emperor.

Zhang Sengyou was a court painter during the Six Dynasties period. He was active from 490 A.D. to 540 A.D. Besides being the director of the imperial library, and in charge of all painting related affairs for Emperor Wu of Liang, Zhang Sengyou held high military and administrative positions. His work is considered one of the four standards of traditional Chinese painting. The music is Qupai Lianzou - Qupai Legato, from the Taoist Music Orchestra.

Shuwaymis is an area about 370 km southwest of the city of Ha’il, near the town of al-Ha’it, in southern Ha’il province. The petroglyphs were known by local Bedouin for centuries, but only drawn to the attention of authorities by a local school headmaster, Mamdouh al Rasheedi, in 2001. Professor Saad Abdul Aziz al-Rashid, calls Shuwaymis “a unique and very important find.” The setting differs significantly from Jubbah in being surrounded by striking lava flows that impede travel, especially by camels and horses. Wadis are therefore important avenues for herders, and it is in these valleys that Neolithic and later...

<p>Answering the pleas of archaeologists and scholars worldwide, the Pentagon has ordered ground troops and aircraft to spare Iraq's treasured archaeological sites wherever possible.</p> <p>This is the fabled Mesopotamia of antiquity, the "cradle of civilization" where the first agrarian societies around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers invented writing, the wheel, the first laws, and literature and mathematics -- some more than 6,000 years ago.</p>