THE REFERENCE LIBRARY · 316 VISUAL LANGUAGES

Explore art history.

Time navigatorSwipe the wheel through history; nearby visual languages rise to the top.
1500
Swipeto explore
Timeline focus 316 cards, ordered by closeness to 1500
01
c. 700–presentWest Asia & North Africa

Islamic calligraphy

02
c. 1100–presentTibet & Himalayas

Tibetan thangka painting

03
c. 1150–1500Western Europe

Gothic illumination

04
c. 1200–1700Iran & Central Asia

Persian miniature

05
c. 1200–1500Armenia & Cilicia

Armenian illumination

06
c. 1200–1600Western India

Jain manuscript painting

07
c. 1200–1520Yucatán and Maya region

Maya codex painting

08
c. 1250–1500Siena, Italy

Sienese painting

09
c. 1250–1517Cairo, Egypt

Mamluk Qur’an illumination

10
c. 1300–1900Ethiopia

Ethiopian manuscript illumination

11
c. 1368–1644China

Ming literati painting

12
1392–1897Korea

Joseon court painting

13
c. 1400–1550Low Countries

Early Netherlandish painting

14
c. 1400–1550Central Mexico

Mesoamerican codex painting

15
c. 1400–1520Florence, Italy

Florentine Renaissance painting

16
c. 1400–1550Oaxaca, Mexico

Mixtec codex painting

17
c. 1450–1900Türkiye

Ottoman illumination

18
c. 1470–1550Germany

German Renaissance woodcut

19
c. 1500–1700Benin City, Edo Kingdom (Nigeria)

Benin court brass plaque

20
1499Venice, Italy

Aldine illustrated-book design

21
1498–99Istanbul, Ottoman Empire

Aq Qoyunlu manuscript painting

22
1493Nuremberg, Germany

Nuremberg Chronicle

23
c. 1510Germany

German martyrdom woodcut

24
c. 1530–50 / 1630Mughal India

Mughal imperial album leaf

25
1531–1700Augsburg, Germany & Europe

Emblem book

26
c. 1465Jaunpur, India

Jaunpur Kalpasutra page

27
1538Nuremberg, Germany

Dürer geometry treatise

28
1540Venice, Italy

Renaissance architectural treatise

29
1459Low Countries

Late-medieval devotional print

30
1454–1455Mainz, Germany

Gutenberg Bible typography

31
c. 500–1450Eastern Mediterranean

Byzantine illumination

32
c. 1550–1850South Asia

Mughal miniature

33
c. 1550–1900Odisha & West Bengal, India

Pattachitra narrative scroll

34
c. 1570–1868Kyoto & Edo, Japan

Kanō school painting

35
c. 1570–1800China

Chinese woodblock novel illustration

36
1570–1700Antwerp, Amsterdam & European print networks

Renaissance atlas cartography

37
c. 1570Mughal India

Hamzanama narrative painting

38
c. 1580–1675Dutch Republic

Dutch Golden Age painting

39
c. 1580–1725Deccan sultanates, India

Deccani miniature painting

40
1590Genoa, Italy

Venetian epic book illustration

41
c. 1595Istanbul, Ottoman Empire

Ottoman prophetic biography illustration

42
1402Korea

Kangnido world-map painting

43
c. 600–1400West Asia & North Africa

Early Arabic paper manuscript

44
c. 1300–1400Goryeo Korea

Korean Buddhist sutra illumination

45
c. 1600–1750Europe

Baroque print culture

46
c. 1600–presentBắc Ninh, Vietnam

Đông Hồ woodcut

47
c. 1600–1900Java, Indonesia

Wayang beber narrative scroll

48
c. 1600–1850Rajasthan, India

Rajasthani court painting

49
c. 1600–1800Cuzco, Peru

Cuzco School painting

50
1603China

Ming folding-fan landscape

51
c. 1610–1640China

Ming vernacular novel woodblock

52
c. 1615–1868Kyoto & Edo, Japan

Rinpa painting

53
1615China

Ming Buddhist sutra woodblock

54
1633Nanjing, China

Ten Bamboo Studio color-print manual

55
1634Mughal India

Mughal natural-history album leaf

56
1642Japan

Early Japanese printed tale

57
1648Anhui, China

Qing topographical print book

58
c. 1300–1350Iran

Ilkhanid Shahnama painting

59
c. 1300–1350Iberian Peninsula

Hebrew micrographic Bible page

60
c. 1650–1900Russia

Russian lubok

61
c. 1650–1900Siam (Thailand)

Thai samut khoi illumination

62
c. 1660–1750Britain, France & Netherlands

Scientific engraving

63
c. 1660–1868Japan

Japanese illustrated book

64
after 1663China

Qing poetry-album calligraphy

65
c. 1670–1900Japan

Ukiyo-e

66
c. 1680Edo, Japan

Early Edo pleasure-quarter print

67
c. 1690–1840Himalayan India

Pahari painting

68
c. 850–1300Japan

Yamato-e

69
c. 1150–1300England, France & the Low Countries

Medieval bestiary illumination

70
c. 1200–1300Iraq & Syria

Maqamat manuscript illustration

71
c. 1300Hereford, England

Hereford mappa mundi

72
c. 1700–1950China

Nianhua New Year print

73
c. 1700–1900Ethiopia

Ethiopian magic scroll

74
c. 1720–1775France, Britain & Central Europe

Rococo book illustration

75
c. 1720Paris, France

French Rococo theatrical engraving

76
960–1279China

Song monumental landscape

77
c. 1739Edo, Japan

Edo illustrated-book cover

78
1747Suzhou, China

Suzhou nianhua woodblock

79
c. 1750–1900Britain & France

Satirical print

80
c. 1750–1910Korea

Korean minhwa

81
c. 1750–1900Europe, Americas & colonial print networks

Botanical illustration

83
c. 1750–1868Japan

Japanese Bunjinga painting

84
c. 1750–presentNorthwest Coast, North America

Tlingit formline design

85
c. 1750–1900Hawaiʻi

Hawaiian kapa design

86
c. 1760–1868Kyoto, Japan

Maruyama–Shijō painting

87
1762–72Paris, France

Encyclopédie technical plate

88
1766–1767Paris, France

French auction-catalogue typography

89
1767Suzhou, China

Suzhou beauty-print design

90
c. 1770–1850India under East India Company rule

Company painting

91
1770Boston, United States

American Revolutionary news broadside

93
1224Baghdad, Iraq

Abbasid scientific manuscript illustration

94
c. 1780–1900Korea

Chaekgeori screen painting

95
1789–1827London, England

Illuminated printing

96
1789–1799Paris & France

French Revolutionary print

97
c. 1790–1860Japan

Surimono print

99
1798Edo, Japan

Edo kyōka poetry anthology

100
c. 1000–1200Western Europe

Romanesque illumination

101
c. 1800–1850Europe & Americas

Romanticism

102
c. 1800–1950Mexico

Mexican retablo painting

104
c. 1800–presentAotearoa New Zealand

Māori kōwhaiwhai rafter painting

105
c. 1800–presentKasai region, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kuba raffia textile

106
1806Japan

Edo poetry-album print

107
c. 1806Edo, Japan

Ukiyo-e courtesan fashion print

108
c. 1807Japan

Edo jōruri programme print

109
c. 1810Paris, France

Regency Paris street etching

110
1814Edo, Japan

Edo dance-manual illustration

111
1817–1878Edo, Japan

Hokusai manga sketchbook

112
c. 1820–1850Edo, Japan

Aizuri-e blue print

113
c. 1825–1875United States

Hudson River School

114
c. 1830–1900Kolkata, India

Kalighat painting

115
c. 1830–1850France

Industrial catalogue lithography

116
c. 1830France

French panoramic wallpaper design

117
c. 1834–1907New York, United States

Currier & Ives lithography

118
c. 1840–1910Iran

Qajar lithography

119
c. 1840–1900Britain & Europe

Victorian chromolithographic ornament

120
c. 1840–1900Britain & United States

Victorian valentine card

124
1842–1900London & transatlantic print networks

Illustrated weekly newspaper

125
1848–1900Britain

Pre-Raphaelite illustration

127
c. 1850–1915Edo and Tokyo, Japan

Japanese omocha-e toy print

128
1851–1852Iran

Qajar Qur’an illumination

129
c. 1855United States

Dutch sea-trade lithograph

130
c. 1860–1910Britain & United States

Arts and Crafts

131
c. 1860–1900Europe

Japonisme

132
c. 1860–1885Paris, France

French theatrical lithography

133
c. 1860–1900Great Plains, United States

Lakota ledger art

134
1864United States

American Civil War campaign lithograph

135
1868–1912Japan

Meiji woodblock print

136
1868–1890sTokyo, Japan

Meiji kaika-e print

137
c. 1870–1900France

Impressionist poster

138
c. 1870–1940Bombay, Calcutta & pan-Indian print networks

Indian calendar art

139
c. 1870–1910United States

American chromolithographic trade card

140
1872–1949Shanghai, China

Shen Bao newspaper layout

141
c. 1872Paris, France

Japoniste figure painting

142
c. 1875–1895Kolkata, India

Calcutta bazaar lithography

143
1875Tokyo, Japan

Meiji illustrated newspaper nishiki-e

144
c. 1875–80Kolkata, India

Battala devotional woodcut

145
1878Paris, France

French family-portrait lithographic culture

146
c. 1880–1910Europe

Symbolist print

147
c. 1880–1913Mexico City, Mexico

Posada broadside graphics

149
c. 1885–1915Europe & United States

Pictorialist photography

150
1888Korea

Korean literati orchid painting

151
c. 1890–1914Europe & United States

Art Nouveau

152
c. 1890–1910Scotland

Glasgow Style

153
c. 1890–1947Kolkata, India

Bengal School

155
1890Tokyo, Japan

Kyōsai accordion picture-book

156
c. 1890–96Mexico City, Mexico

Mexican calavera verse broadside

157
1891–1898Hammersmith, London, England

Kelmscott private-press book design

158
1892–1930sCairo, Egypt

Al-Hilāl literary magazine

159
1892–1945Berlin, Germany

Berliner Illustrirte photojournalism

160
1892Paris, France

Montmartre color-lithograph publicity

161
1894–1930sBombay, Lonavala & India

Ravi Varma Press oleograph

162
1894–1897London, England

The Yellow Book aesthetic

163
c. 1895–1930United States & Europe

Newspaper comic strip

165
1896–1914Munich, Germany

Jugend magazine graphic

166
1896–1914Munich, Germany

Simplicissimus satirical weekly

167
1897–1918Vienna, Austria

Vienna Secession

168
c. 920–1100León, Castile & northern Iberia

Mozarabic Beatus illumination

169
c. 1100Tibet

Tibetan mandala diagram

170
1900Atlanta, United States

W. E. B. Du Bois data portraits

171
c. 1900–presentSouthwestern Nigeria

Yoruba adire indigo cloth

172
1902Mexico City, Mexico

Manilla calavera broadside

173
1903–1932Vienna, Austria

Wiener Werkstätte graphics

174
c. 1904–1955Japan

Sōsaku-hanga (Creative Print)

175
c. 1905–1925Germany

German Expressionist woodcut

176
c. 1905–1914Berlin & Munich, Germany

Plakatstil

177
c. 1905–1920United States, Britain & Europe

Women’s suffrage poster design

178
c. 1905–1965London, England

London Transport poster design

179
1906–1931Tbilisi, Tabriz & Baku

Molla Nasreddin satirical magazine

180
1907Tokyo, Japan

Meiji design-book graphic

181
1909–1918Italy

Italian Futurist typography

182
1910–1934New York, United States

The Crisis magazine design

183
1910s–1930sNew York, United States

Vogue illustrated-cover modernism

184
c. 1910–1930Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Careta illustrated weekly

185
1911–1917New York, United States

The Masses radical magazine

186
1911–1939Berlin, Germany

Die Dame illustrated magazine

187
1912–1925Paris, France

La Gazette du Bon Ton fashion plate

188
1914–1915London, United Kingdom

Vorticist magazine

189
1914–1918Britain, United States & Commonwealth

World War I recruitment poster

190
1914–1930sPetrograd/Leningrad & Moscow, Russia/USSR

Rabotnitsa workers’ magazine

191
1915–1935Russia & USSR

Constructivism

192
c. 1915–1940Global

Art Deco

193
1915–1925Russia & USSR

Suprematist print

194
c. 1915–1945Japan

Shin-hanga

195
1916–1930Germany & Switzerland

Dada photomontage

196
1917–1931Netherlands

De Stijl

197
c. 1918–1937United States

Harlem Renaissance

198
1918–1932Amsterdam, Netherlands

Wendingen magazine

199
1918–1922Russian Soviet Republic

Soviet Red Army poster

200
1918–1936Tokyo, Japan

Akai Tori children’s magazine

201
1919–1933Germany

Bauhaus

202
1919–1921Russia & early Soviet cities

ROSTA Windows

203
1919–1930Moscow, Russia & USSR

Russian avant-garde book design

204
1919–1921Moscow & Soviet Russia

ROSTA window poster

205
1920s–1950sMexico

Mexican muralism

206
c. 1920–1935Moscow & Leningrad, USSR

Soviet children’s book design

208
1920–1930Moscow, USSR

VKhUTEMAS graphic workshops

209
1920–1939Moscow & Leningrad, USSR

Soviet book-jacket design

210
1920–1925Paris, France

L’Esprit Nouveau purist journal

211
1920Moscow, Soviet Russia

Communist International magazine

212
1920s–1940sUnited States

Black Mask pulp-cover design

213
1920Barcelona, Spain

Catalan satirical weekly

214
1920Madrid, Spain

Spanish illustrated weekly cover

215
1920Havana, Cuba

Havana modernist magazine cover

216
1920sNew York, United States

Photoplay fan-magazine cover

217
1920New York, United States

Reconstruction political magazine

218
1920Berlin, Germany

Die Aktion Expressionist cover

220
1922–1991Moscow, USSR

Krokodil satirical magazine

221
1922–1923São Paulo, Brazil

Klaxon Brazilian modernist magazine

223
1923–1932Hanover, Germany

Merz periodical

226
1924–1925Tokyo, Japan

MAVO magazine

229
1926–1955New York & United States pulp presses

Pulp science-fiction cover

230
1926–1945Shanghai, China

Liangyou pictorial magazine

231
1927–1932Madrid, Spain

La Gaceta Literaria modernist page

234
1929–1940sNew York, United States

Fortune magazine editorial modernism

237
1933–1948India

Harijan newspaper layout

239
1934–1944Tokyo, Japan

NIPPON magazine photomontage

240
1935–1943United States

WPA poster

241
1935–1943United States

WPA cultural poster

242
1936–1939Republican Spain

Spanish Civil War poster

244
1939–1945United Kingdom

Abram Games wartime poster

245
1939–1945United Kingdom

British wartime information poster

247
1942–1945United States

Office of War Information poster

253
c. 950–1050Germany & Ottonian Empire

Ottonian illumination

254
c. 1950–1970Switzerland

Swiss Style

267
1965–1971San Francisco, United States

Psychedelic posters

270
1965–1980United Kingdom

British Rail corporate graphics

273
c. 1966–1976Argentina & Uruguay

Rioplatense political graphic art

274
1966–1968China

Chinese big-character poster

276
c. 1967–1988Palestine, Lebanon & diaspora

Palestinian liberation poster

282
May–June 1968Paris, France

Atelier Populaire poster

283
1968–1980United States

1970s public-service poster

286
1975–1990United States, Britain & global hobbyist press

Early computer magazine layout

288
1978–1982Iran

Iranian revolutionary poster

289
1979–1985Gaborone, Botswana & southern Africa

Medu Art Ensemble posters

293
1987–1995New York & international

ACT UP graphic activism

296
c. 300–1000Egypt

Coptic manuscript art

300
618–907China

Tang dynasty painting

301
c. 600–900Ireland & Britain

Insular illumination

302
c. 825–850Frankish Empire

Carolingian Gospel illumination

303
c. 100 BCE–700 CESouth coast, Peru

Nazca textile design

304
late sixteenth–seventeenth centuryChina

Ming painting-manual print

306
first half of the 14th centuryEthiopia

Ethiopian double-sided Gospel leaf

307
early eighteenth centuryLondon, Britain

Landscape-garden treatise engraving

308
thirteenth–fourteenth centuryChina

Yuan album-leaf calligraphy

309
late eighth–early ninth centuryWest Asia

Early Kufic Qur’an page

310
late eighteenth centuryJapan

Edo sketch-album print

311
early eighteenth centuryJapan

Edo kosode pattern-book design

312
eighteenth centuryEdo, Japan

Edo embassy news print

313
15th–16th centuryOttoman Turkey

Ottoman Qur’an page design

314
17th–18th centuryEgypt

Coptic liturgical codex page

315
13th centuryChina

Southern Song flower-fan painting

316
early–mid 14th centuryJapan

Japanese Zen calligraphy scroll

Design recipe generatorBuild a specific visual direction—or let chance make one.

Create a magazine feature using the visual grammar of Constructivism and a asymmetric modernist field. Make it civic and declarative, designed to be scan in seconds, structured as an archive, and expressed through newsprint and one ink. Use static poster logic interaction. Constraint: one ink color only.