The history of the Gorham Manufacturing Company is intertwined with that of Providence and Rhode Island. This uniquely local story has provided the opportunity for the RISD Museum to learn from the experiences of community members who have intersected with Gorham's legacy.

Recorded on 05.03.19.

The man in this painting lived in the same era and region as some of colonists seen in this gallery.

The RISD Museum’s 2009 acquisition of the Richard Brown Baker collection included two drawings by the English artist Howard Selina—Cowboy Hat (1974) and Two Boots (1974)—carefully and precisely rendered drawings in graphite on paper of well-worn, utilitarian garments.

Museum staff and partners have shared our Clinical Arts work at a variety of conferences, symposia, and scholarly publications.

During the Fall of 2015, Brown’s graduate students in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture undertook an investigation of the wood sculptures in the RISD Museum collections.

This seven-foot-tall Christ would have been suspended above an altar or screen, the juxtaposition of his damaged body and calm, downward gaze reminding those below him of both his humanity and his divinity. 

A colossal Romanesque head in the RISD collection has yet to be securely identified, but the sheen of his nose suggests that it was rubbed by many penitent hands during the course of this sculpture’s life.

In the Middle Ages, several saints were represented as knights in art, making it difficult to identify RISD’s Crusading Saint. This article will explore his possible identities.

This article argues that Simon the Pharisee would have been viewed as an explicitly Jewish character by sixteenth-century viewers.

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.

This article provides a brief introduction to this finely carved and dynamic sculpture of the Archangel Gabriel.

During the Fall of 2015, Sheila Bonde’s graduate students in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Brown University undertook an investigation of the wood sculptures in the RISD Museum collections. This multi-author paper includes some of their findings.

A summer intern conspires with a toothy collage in the museum’s collection.

A summer intern's 3-dimensional visualization and virtual reality exploration of the Kanzeon Raijin Gate in Edo, Japan, as seen in an 1820s print.

The RISD Museum collection application program interface (API) lays out how our website’s search function operates, aiding discovery of the museum’s collection and allowing collection data to be used in innovative ways.

Robert Emlen, curator at Brown University, and furniture designer, Timothy Philbrick examine the craftsmanship, features, and significance of the Goddard/Townsend desk and bookcase.