Royals with really grand designs
From Louis XIV to Catherine the Great, monarchs didn’t just commission ambitious projects, but also played a serious part in the design process
Pub culture – maritime masterpieces at the Trafalgar Tavern
Pub landlord Frank Dowling has built a collection of museum-quality masterpieces and curios that testify to his love of London’s maritime history
World views – revisiting an 18th-century survey of global style
Joseph Friedrich zu Racknitz’s four-volume treatise, newly translated and edited, deserves to be more widely read
A set of original drawings by Owen Jones have returned to the museum that inspired them
The designer’s interpretations of Chinese decorative art can now be found in the V&A
Are copies coming in from the cold?
Plaster casts of monuments have long been an unfashionable feature in museums – but the art of copying may be coming into its own again
The first classical building in Britain gets the modern treatment it deserves
The Queen’s House in Greenwich is steeped in so much history that curators have struggled to decide what to highlight. But now the problem seems to have been solved
George Gilbert Scott – not such a ‘dead dog’ after all
John Betjeman called him ‘dull’ and William Morris dismissed his work, but Scott’s reputation is bouncing back
The many faces of Mary Magdalene