Indianapolis Museum of Art

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is a comprehensive art museum and one of the largest in the United States. The permanent collection comprises over 54,000 works, including African, American, Asian, and European pieces.

Significant areas of the collection include Neo-Impressionist paintings, Japanese paintings of the Edo period, Chinese ceramics and bronzes, paintings, sculptures, and prints.

Other areas of emphasis include textiles and fashion arts, as well as a recent focus on modern design.

Founded in 1883, the first permanent museum was opened in 1906 and has become recognized as innovative in its development of open source technologies and collaboration.

A Virtual Tour Indianapolis Museum of Art

• “Aristotle” by Jusepe de Ribera
• “Roman Capriccio: The Pantheon and Other Monuments” by Giovanni Paolo Panini
• Wedgwood Portland Vase
• “A Break: Playing Cards” by Julian Scott

Highlights Tour Indianapolis Museum of Art

“Aristotle” by Jusepe de Ribera

Aristotle, by Jusepe de Ribera, is portrayed wearing a scholar’s skullcap and a ragged robe, as a “beggar philosopher,” a popular rhetorical device in the seventeenth century.

His asceticism was in keeping with Spanish Catholicism and is a hallmark of the saints Ribera also painted.

Aristotle is shown surrounded by a light reminiscent of Caravaggio. De Ribera’s naturalistic style makes this painting a powerful evocation of a philosopher deep in thought and contemplation.

Aristotle is painted with deep creases in his worn face and hands. Ribera signed the picture across the papers in Aristotle’s hand, appending “español” to his name to assert his nationality.

“Roman Capriccio: The Pantheon and Other Monuments” by Giovanni Paolo Panini

“Roman Capriccio: The Pantheon and Other Monuments” by Giovanni Paolo Panini depicts an array of famous Roman monuments in a rural setting.

Panini was a famed painter of capriccios or architectural fantasies. This composition has combined several ancient buildings and monuments from Roman into one convenient location without regard to actual topography.

From left to right, he included the Temple of Hadrian, the Pantheon, the Temple of Vesta, the Maison Carrée, and the Theater of Marcellus, and the Obelisk of Thutmose III.

In the center is the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, around which are shown ancient Roman peasants living their ideal lives.

Wedgwood Portland Vase

Josiah Wedgwood devoted four years of painstaking trials to duplicate the quality of the vase. It was eventually replicated not in glass but black and white jasperware.

Wedgwood finally managed to perfect it in 1790, with the issue of the “first edition” of copies, and it marked his final significant achievement.

The original Portland Vase is a Roman cameo glass vase, made about 2,00 years ago. The work in creating the Portland Vase must have taken its original artisan about two years to produce. 

“A Break: Playing Cards” by Julian Scott

“A Break: Playing Cards” by Julian Scott depicts a tranquil pastime between battles. Scott composed a balanced composition, arranging the flag, drum, and rifles with detailed precision.

The military uniforms show two soldiers wear the standard blue uniform of the Union Army. At the same time, the two seated figures are state militia volunteers, who wore their own uniforms.

The seated soldier at right represents a Green Mountain Brigade volunteer from Vermont. The card player in the red hat is in the Zouave costume derived from the French army’s famous battalion.

The distinctive uniforms of the Zouave units were of North African origin. It generally included short open-fronted jackets, baggy trousers, sashes, and a fez-like chéchia head-dress.

Julian Scott’s artistic career grew out of his service in the Civil War. In 1861, at age 15, he enlisted as a musician in the Third Vermont Regiment.