Nora McGreevy

Nora McGreevy

 

Nora McGreevy is a former daily correspondent for Smithsonian. She is also a freelance journalist based in Chicago whose work has appeared in Wired, Washingtonian, the Boston Globe, South Bend Tribune, the New York Times and more.

Young Man Holding a Roundel is one of just three Sandro Botticelli portraits housed in a private collection.

One of the Last Privately Owned Botticelli Portraits Just Sold for $92 Million

The 15th-century painting, which went up for auction at Sotheby's Thursday, depicts a young Florentine man

Art historian Philip Mould identified this miniature, previously thought to be a likeness of Sir Walter Raleigh, as a portrait of Henry III of France.

Petite Portrait of Henry III, King Who Challenged Sexual Norms in 16th-Century France, Discovered

Art dealer Philip Mould purchased the miniature "sight unseen" during lockdown. Now, he's offering it to the Louvre Museum in Paris

The remains of an individual buried at the Augustinian friary, pictured during excavations in 2016

Medieval Britons' Remains Record the 'Skeletal Trauma' Inflicted by Inequality

New study reveals the horrific injuries sustained by lower-class members of English society

A screenshot of the new V&A; digital tool, which allows viewers to explore high-resolution scans of Raphael's cartoons for his Sistine Chapel tapestry sequence. Here, Jesus speaks to Simon in The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (Luke 5: 1-11).

New Online Tool Reveals Raphael's Sistine Chapel Cartoons in Stunning Detail

High-resolution scans from the V&A offer an unprecedented view of the Renaissance drawings, down to every last line and wrinkle

Robert S. Duncanson's Landscape With Rainbow (1859) “carries with it an unmistakable ray of hope,” per the Los Angeles Times. “Rainbows typically appear after a storm has passed, not before.”

Smithsonian Curator Reflects on Joe Biden's 'Poignant' Inaugural Painting

Eleanor Harvey posits that the 1859 landscape's message of hope resonated with First Lady Jill Biden, who helped select the artwork

Artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons spearheaded the creation of When We Gather, a three-minute short film marking Harris' inauguration.

How Seven Women Artists Are Celebrating Kamala Harris' Historic Inauguration

The group's upcoming short film, titled "When We Gather," honors the achievements of women who preceded the vice president

A rendering of by Hank Willis Thomas' The Embrace, a public memorial set to be unveiled in the Boston Commons in October 2022

Monument to Coretta Scott and MLK Is Coming to Boston, City Where They Met

Hank Willis Thomas' sculpture of intertwined arms will memorialize the civil rights leaders and their fight for racial equality

The original cover design for Hergé's The Blue Lotus(1936) sold at auction for a record-breaking price on Thursday. The gouache and watercolor drawing was kept folded in a drawer for many years, and the lines where the work was folded are still visible.

Tintin Drawing Sold for €3.2 Million Is the World's Most Expensive Comic Book Art

The original cover design for Hergé's "The Blue Lotus" spent decades tucked away in a drawer

Elizebeth Friedman was a star cryptanalyst who cracked hundreds of ciphers for the U.S. government.

How Codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman Broke Up a Nazi Spy Ring

A new PBS documentary traces her extraordinary life, from her Quaker upbringing to her career as the U.S.' first female cryptanalyst

The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City, a 1931 mural by Mexican artist Diego Rivera, resides in an exhibition space in the San Francisco Art Institute. In a precarious financial position, the school has reportedly considered selling the mural for an estimated $50 million.

Why a California School's Potential Sale of Diego Rivera Mural Is So Controversial

Local officials are seeking landmark designation for the 1931 artwork, likely blocking the San Francisco Art Institute's plan

“A key tenet of ... constitutional democracy is the peaceful transfer of power following U.S. presidential elections, dating back to the republic’s first presidential election,” said Anthea Hartig, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, in a statement. “This week, that core belief was shaken.”

How the Smithsonian and Other Museums Are Responding to the U.S. Capitol Riot

Leading institutions have started collecting artifacts and working to contextualize last week's violent attack

An 1843 aquatint by Jean-Pierre-Marie Jazet, after a painting by Carl von Steuben, depicts Napoleon Bonaparte in his final moments.

Rare Doctor's Note Offers Glimpse Into Napoleon's Agonized Final Years

The 1818 missive, which describes the French statesman's failing health, recently sold at auction for $2,000

Lawmakers voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 (NDAA), which includes legislation that will change how the antiquities market in the US is regulated.

How a New Law Will Impact the U.S. Antiquities Trade

In the name of cracking down on money laundering, a new law passed by Congress will increase federal oversight of the art market and limit secrecy

An illustration of the British burning Washington in 1814

The History of Violent Attacks on the U.S. Capitol

While the building has seen politically motivated mayhem in the past, never before has a mob of insurrectionists tried to overturn a presidential election

A whimsical bag designed to look like a European horse chestnut, made by contemporary British designer Emily Joe Gibbs

How the Handbag Became the Ultimate Fashion Accessory

An exhibition at the V&A in London traces the long history of the purse, from Elizabeth I's court to "Sex and the City"

A Perseid meteor burns up against the night sky over Big Bend National Park.

Ten Celestial Events to Look Forward to in 2021

Eclipses, meteor showers and dazzling views of planets will excite amateur and professional astronomers alike in North America

In this newspaper illustration, the Electoral Commission holds a secret candlelit meeting in the courtroom of the Supreme Court on February 16, 1877.

Five Things to Know About the 1876 Presidential Election

Lawmakers are citing the 19th-century crisis as precedent to dispute the 2020 election. Here's a closer look at its events and legacy

Mary Lee Bendolph, Blocks and Strips, 2002

National Gallery of Art Adds 40 Works by Black Southern Artists to Its Collections

The "milestone" acquisition includes works by the Gee's Bend quilters, Thornton Dial, Nellie Mae Rowe and James "Son Ford" Thomas

This small oil-on-panel work by Rembrandt, Abraham and the Angels (1646), is expected to sell for upward of $20 million.

Rare Rembrandt Biblical Scene Could Fetch $30 Million at Auction

In this intimate scene from Genesis, the artist depicts the moment that Abraham’s wife Sarah learns she will bear a son

Closed to the public and financially strained, museums nevertheless managed to create thought-provoking alternatives to in-person viewing.

The Top Ten Online Exhibitions of 2020

From a Smithsonian show on first ladies to Mexican muralists, Rembrandt and the making of the Met, these were some of our favorite virtual experiences

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