Art

Nothing captures the past like a drop of perfume, says Roja Dove, connoisseur and curator of a recent survey of the history of perfume, as he sniffs out the fragrances that characterised their age.

Though they originated in China, it was in the capitals of early modern Europe that fireworks flourished. They united art and science in awesome displays of poltical might, as Simon Werrett explains.

Painter of genius, gifted courtier and much-travelled man of the world, Rubens reached England in 1629, charged with the delicate task of furthering an entente between the Spanish government and Great Britain. C.V. Wedgwood shows how he enjoyed the conversation of his youthful host, whose fine aesthetic taste he shared, but shrewdly judged the weakness of King Charles I’s diplomacy.

Stephen Gundle examines the political demise and commercial rebirth of the Italian dictator.

Sarah Gristwood on the complex issues raised by the restoration of a remarkable Tudor vision of victory over the Spanish Armada.

Miri Rubin explores the medieval galleries at the V&A and the British Museum.

Lucy Worsley reveals the strange stories of the cast of characters on the King’s Grand Staircase at Kensington Palace, painted by William Kent for George I in the 1720s.

Mark Bryant admires a Russian artist whose lampoons of Napoleon inspired some notable British caricaturists.

Mark Bryant profiles the brilliant wartime cartoonist who chronicled the actions of Italy’s Fascist leader.

Frances Spalding on John Piper’s pursuit of an English vision during the Second World War.