Features
A sentimental education – the sisters who learnt to paint with the Pre-Raphaelites
Lucy and Catherine Madox Brown studied with their father and had close connections to the Pre-Raphaelites – but their achievements have been overlooked until now
The artist searching for traces of the Tunisian revolution
Frustrated that memories of more hopeful times are fading, the artist Intissar Belaid is determined to preserve what she can
‘For the full Indiana Jones experience, it is best approached on horseback’
The spectacular cave monastery of Sabereebi in Georgia is full of frescoes as stunning as their rocky setting
Admissible evidence – museum directors have their say on vaccine passports
Museum directors in France and Italy seem to agree that requiring proof of vaccination is preferable to being shut – although not everyone is on board
The man who got Lucian Freud to pose as a Henry Moore
The legendary picture editor Bruce Bernard was famously modest about his own photography, but his portraits of Lucian Freud are peerless
The failed Italian revolutionary who dedicated himself to Asian art
After his failure in politics, Henri Cernuschi succeeded in finance – and left an outstanding collection of Asian art to his adoptive city of Paris
Venice’s crumbling palazzos are crying out for more buyers like Anish Kapoor
The artist plans to turn a dilapidated palace into a lively new cultural venue – and the city needs others to follow his example
The visionary artist who saw into the mind of John Soane
Joseph Gandy’s dramatic paintings turned John Soane’s neoclassical designs into full-blown Romantic fantasies
The goofy and garish Victorian pottery that was a very serious business
Mass-produced majolica has often been sneered at – but its exuberance is what makes it so appealing
Tourist for a day – the Tower of London is quite the tour de force
The Crown Jewels are what the castle is most famous for, but over the centuries it has housed everything from prisoners to military hardware
The Neue Nationalgalerie’s restoration is so subtle you might not notice – and that’s a good thing
David Chipperfield’s cool, if costly, renovation plays to the gallery’s minimalist strengths
The Spanish conquistadores heading for a fall in Colombia
Colombia’s indigenous communities are toppling statues of the Spanish conquerors to highlight past and present injustices
Sharp shooters – the photographers who put West Africa into the frame
The portraits of James Barnor, Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé conjure up an image of cool modernity – but also draw on a long photographic tradition
The Jurassic fossils of the Cotswolds reveal prehistoric secrets – and can help us predict the future
A pair of amateur fossil hunters have uncovered a section of Jurassic sea floor in a sleepy corner of England
The artists collecting lullabies from all corners of the globe
These comforting songs are freighted with cultural and personal memories – and artists are working to preserve them
Loved shacks: the very British obsession with beach huts
It may be an unassuming little shelter, but the beach hut tells of a British infatuation with property and propriety
Funghi business: the tricks and treats of the white truffle trade
Like the rarest works of art, white truffles from Alba are commodities in a mysterious, monied world
The architect who did up Downing Street without a fuss
Raymond Erith adapted classical architecture for a modern age
Shell co-operation: the art of making peace in North America
Native American belts made of wampum shells have long fulfilled a diplomatic purpose – and as such are very much a living art
Walter Scott conjured up a playground for painters – and they fixed his fantasy of Scotland in place
The novelist may be little read today, but his fiction inspired an enduring, Romantic vision of the past
Tourist for a day – the London Eye may be ancient now, but it’s well worth a spin
The giant ferris wheel may now be part of the furniture – but the view from on high is still revolutionary
Tourist for a day – why Parisians really ought to climb the Arc de Triomphe
Most Parisians treat the Arc de Triomphe as a glorified roundabout – but by climbing it they’d see the city in a new light
In praise of Grinling Gibbons, the wizard of woodcarving
The sculptor took Restoration England by storm with his virtuosic woodwork
Bellotto’s views of Dresden tell a tale of two cities
Through the Italian painter’s eyes, the German city became both an idealised version of itself and a surrogate for his native Venice
The many faces of Mary Magdalene