Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.
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Edmund Burke defined "sublime art" as that which produces the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling ā capturing immeasurable greatness.
Art Deco in the '20s and '30s was about the fusion of the classical and modern worlds. It took designs from great past civilizations (Greece, Rome, Mesoamerica, Asia) and fused them with modern forms. 
In 1804, legendary poet William Blake asked:
Largely sparred from WW2 bombs, Prague is a time capsule of architectural movements ā from Gothic to Art Nouveau. A thousand years of history is condensed into a few square miles... 
1,200 years ago, the world's largest city was Baghdad (modern-day Iraq) ā 1.5 million lived there at its peak. The Round City, a masterpiece of urban planning, contained one of history's greatest libraries. 
A 19th century wonder of the romantic age. Unusual because although it looks formidable, it was not built as a fortress ā but as a family memorial for the House of Hohenzollern. 
The illusionistic frescoes of the Church of St. Ignatius are every bit as majestic as the Sistine Chapel ā Pozzo's 17th century genius opened flat ceilings to the heavens. The "dome" he painted is actually flat... 
Such skill at that age seems unthinkable. In fact, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was pretty well a master by 15. How? 
At the turn of the 20th century, American cities transformed swathes of their centers into huge architectural displays ā all for great exhibitions called the World's Fairs... 
The Salvator Mundi, supposedly a lost da Vinci, shocked the world in 2017 when it fetched $400m at auction (plus $50m fees) ā the highest ever.
The most beautiful library ever built in the US, with towering cast-iron book alcoves. An institution since 1874, it was demolished in 1955 and the library moved to a new site with more space. Today, a parking garage stands in its place. 
Last year, this grotesque metal statue was unveiled in Boston ā to the bemusement of taxpayers who had unwittingly contributed to its $10m budgetā¦ 
1. Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark, NJ (1954)
The German city of Dresden was a jewelry box of Baroque beauty ā once known as the Florence of the Elbe. This is how it looked at the turn of the 20th century: 
Picasso died on this day in 1973, at the age of 91.
In the '90s, some former CIA officials admitted they had used abstract art ā by Pollock, de Kooning, and others ā as an ideological weapon in the Cold War.
New York once had a monumental gateway ā one of history's worst architectural crimes was demolishing it to make way for Madison Square Garden. 
When a relatively unknown 24-year-old unveiled this in Rome in 1499, it was met with sheer disbelief. Most doubted it was his own work, so he carved into the sash across Mary's chest:
The tomb looks like this. It's inside a shrine called the Edicule, in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
In the Islamic world, depictions of God or Muhammad are forbidden. You look up in their holy buildings at colors and geometries, not mosaics of God.
When you think of American cities you think of places built for maximum efficiency and commerce - not necessarily for beauty and harmony. This photo often does the rounds... 