Raphael completes his painting The School of Athens
The School of Athens is considered “the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the High Renaissance” and it is the most famous painting by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino.
Artists & philosophers
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by the Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer Leonardo da Vinci, is probably the world’s most-famous painting.
Michelangelo begins painting frescoes on ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
The frescoes, which take up the entirety of the vault, are among the most important paintings in the world.
Hieronymus Bosch paints “The Garden of Earthly Delights”
The Garden of Earthly Delights is considered Bosch’s seminal masterpiece and the most successful and outstanding of his creations.
Ibn Khaldun publishes Muqaddimah, laying critical foundations for history, sociology, economics, and more
The work is studded with brilliant observations on historiography, economics, politics, and education. It is held together by his central concept of ʿaṣabiyyah, or “social cohesion.”
Celtic mythology compiled in The Mabinogion
The Mabinogion are the earliest prose stories of the literature of Britain. They were created by various narrators over time.
An unknown author completes Færeyinga Saga
The Færeyinga Saga, the saga of the Faroe Islands, is the story of how the Faroe Islanders were converted to Christianity and became a part of Norway. It was written in Iceland shortly after 1200.
Padmasambhava composes the Bardo Thodol, the Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Tibetan text describes, and is intended to guide one through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, in the bardo, the interval between death and the next rebirth.
First version of the Quran is written
Muslims believe the Quran was revealed between 609 CE and 632 CE, and organized into the Uthman codex in 650 CE.
Táin Bó Cúailnge is composed in Ireland
Táin Bó Cúailnge, commonly known as The Cattle Raid of Cooley or The Táin), is an epic from early Irish literature which is often called “The Irish Iliad.” The Táin has had an enormous influence on Irish literature and culture. It is often considered Ireland’s national epic.