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    Open today 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Only have an hour to spend?

    We've got you covered.

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured exhibition:

    The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

    Now on view

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Games and Interactives
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Artle

    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

    Today's puzzle

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    Open today 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Only have an hour to spend?

    We've got you covered.

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured exhibition:

    The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

    Now on view

  • Art & Artists

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    • Artists
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    • Games and Interactives
    • Educational Resources
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    Artle

    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

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    Rizson

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    Twelve men and perhaps a child, who is bald and wears a brown robe, kneel, sit, or prostrate themselves in front of an altar piled with three skulls in this almost square painting. All the men appear to have pale, peachy skin and wear tattered robes with hoods in shades of sky or slate blue, peanut brown, terracotta orange, or silvery gray. The man closest to the altar holds up a long cross so it almost touches the skulls. He kneels and bows deeply so his hood completely hides his face. Three more men are near him in this grouping, and another rests on the broken base of a column as he reaches forward, head bowed. The child and two taller adults stand in the background along the left edge of the composition, and four more men are clustered in the lower right corner. The two to the left in this final group have chains wrapped around their torsos and are barefoot. The leftmost reclines on one hip and looks at the open book he holds. The other two men kneel. Carnation-pink and sapphire-blue robes lie across the two steps where these four people gather. Another book and glimmering objects, perhaps pieces of armor and maybe another skull, are heaped in a pile to the left. Beyond all the people, a mint-green curtain just taller than the standing men hangs across the lower portion of a row of columns in front of pearl-white walls with molding, columns, and an arched doorway. Some brushstrokes are loose, especially in the clothing and background.
    Michel-François Dandré-Bardon, The Adoration of the Skulls, c. 1733/1734, oil on canvas, Gift of Lewis Einstein, 1956.3.1

    The Adoration of the Skulls

    The Adoration of the Skulls

    Michel-François Dandré-Bardon · c. 1733/1734 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1956.3.1

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