Ms. Brothers, an associate professor at the University of Virginia, is the author of "Michelangelo, Drawing and the Invention of Architecture" (Yale).

WSJ: Masterpieces on a Shopping List | Michelangelo Master Drawings | Museum of Fine Arts Boston | By Cammy Brothers

Even the 94-year-old architecture legend Philip Johnson has one on the drawing board.

FORBES: The Glamour Factor

Largely a nation of immigrants and their descendants, we are eclectic assimilators, drawing upon cherished long-held world-wide traditions and inspirational references evidenced in art, architecture, literature, music, theater, diet, and science.

FORBES: In Reflection, With Resolve, Rediscovering American Exceptionalism