Dolphins of the Belfiore
Does the intelligent sea mammal, long associated with Venus, the goddess of love, offer a clue to a lost jewel of the Renaissance?
Art
The Dead Christ
Holbein the Younger’s image still startles 500 years after its creation.
To Frame a Painter
A society portraitist who emigrated to Britain from Hungary found himself embroiled in a drama of divided loyalties during the First World War.
The Field of Cloth of Gold: A Duel in Jewels
When Henry VIII and Francis I met 12 years after the Field of Cloth of Gold – with Henry accompanied by Anne Boleyn – both sought to outdo one another with exquisite items of display.
A Painting Tells a Thousand Words
The Painted Hall at Greenwich: how it was commissioned, its narrative and its meaning.
Beyond Good and Evil
As a frontline soldier in the First World War, the German artist Otto Dix fell under the spell of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and his assault on Christian morality.
A Painter Fit for a Queen
Nicholas Hilliard was a portraitist at the pinnacle of his profession.
How Venice Lost Its Art
The arrival of Napoleon’s troops in Venice in 1797 instigated one of the biggest plunders in the history of art.
The Female Gaze Made Flesh
There were many obstacles preventing women from becoming artists in the 18th century, but those who overcame them created some of the most influential art of their time.
Lubaina Himid: Naming the Un-Named
Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid’s artworks fill in the gaps that history leaves behind.