“After a fascinating debate, or two, that revealed how deeply you feel about art, we now have a definitive list of the 50 works that demand to seen at least once in a lifetime. These are the masterpieces worth a pilgrimage or, if you are lucky enough to live near one of them, an infinity of repeated viewings.”

The one I’d most love to see has to be the Terracotta Army of the First Qin Emperor (c. 210BC), Shaanxi province, China. Before the First Emperor’s death, a vast tomb was constructed. Its floor is a map of the empire, complete with flowing mercury representing the great earthly bodies of water. Its ceiling is a scale replica of the universe with gems and jewels representing the cosmos. Pearls were also placed on the ceilings in the tomb to represent the stars and planets. Jewels and other treasures buried within are guarded by devices triggered to release arrows at any intruder; and the workmen who installed the finishing touches were buried alive to ensure that the secret of the entranceway died with them. But the icing on the cake is the 8,099 life-size terra cotta figures of warriors and horses constructed to ‘guard’ over him in the afterlife. How Indiana Jones can you get?

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Thousands of ‘em Sire!

UPDATE: Legendary Emperor Qin Shi Huang of China had one more terracotta warrior guarding his tomb, recently. Pablo Wendel, an art student from Germany, disguised himself as one of the clay sculptures surronding Qinshihuang in his final resting place, now a museum.

Police protecting the northern China museum searched for an extended period of time, as Wendel stood silently, among several thousand sculptures. When police found the 26-year-old performance artist, who later told them he was fascinated by the monumental display, they carried him away “as if he were a log.”