The seminar aspires to take responsibility for the contemporary call to imagine a “global” art history. To do so, it will consider the intense interaction between world regions prior to the modern age, in a period of consolidation of political power into empires, across the globe. Focusing on the major capitals from East Asia to Western Europe, we will discuss this as an era of “discoveries,” of active trade and conflict (colonies), and of “gunpowder” empires. In addition to new forms of visual culture, such as prints and maps, this is also a moment of enhanced artistic exchange through travel, leading directly to the formation of large collections, including “exotic” objects. Emphasis will focus on shared readings and will also endeavor to consider other world regions, chiefly Islamic Asia along with emerging colonial regions, such as Spanish America, alongside Europe and East Asia, considered broadly.