Martin Bailey

What might have been: the Victoria and Albert Museum's never-built tower

London institution's first director, Henry Cole, designed the landmark in 1868

Prizesnews

Richard Mosse wins Prix Pictet award

Images were created using military-grade thermal camera to depict migrants’ journeys to escape war and persecution

Museums show limited interest in borrowing Parthenon Marbles

British Museum’s vision of the ancient sculptures travelling to China and Africa has so far come to nothing

Tate Modern's extension renamed Blavatnik Building after record £50m donation

Ukrainian-born American businessman Len Blavatnik's gift is the largest-ever financial contribution to a UK museum

Students leave pencil marks on ancient sculptures at the British Museum

The increase in graffiti cases over the past decade raises concerns about monitoring and protection of the collection

Hokusai’s late style comes into view at the British Museum

Looking beyond his iconic Great Wave at treasures from the museum's collection and from around the globe

Can visitor numbers bounce back after Brexit?

Latest figures show minimal boost from weak pound and negative impact of terrorism in Europe

Hermitage to loan Scythian treasures for British Museum show

London show will explore one of the great nomadic civilisations of antiquity

London's National Gallery goes for Bellotto after failing to buy Pontormo

Institution is now trying to raise £11m to buy an export-deferred work by the Italian painter

National Gallery expansion plan ‘starting to take shape’

Office block next door is potential site, says director Gabriele Finaldi

Michelangelo-designed frame reimagined by National Gallery

A mix of old and new elements gives greater depth to Sebastiano del Piombo’s The Raising of Lazarus

European cobalt blue imported to China from early 18th century

Scientific tests reveal Qing-dynasty artisans used it to produce famille rose porcelain

Tate St Ives offers first glimpse of £20m refurbishment

The Tate’s Cornish satellite, which reopens this week, is preparing its first semi-permanent display on the St Ives School

Emergency repair work to Buckingham Palace’s State Dining Room nears completion

Reopening set for summer but complete overhaul of palace costing £369m will take a decade

Experts restore rare Dutch Golden Age map found stuffed up a chimney

The 17th-century map, which was discovered scrunched up in a ball, is on show at the National Library of Scotland

Man charged with vandalising painting by Gainsborough at National Gallery

Conservators assess damage to paint surface as suspect due to appear in London court

The search for Franz Marc’s iconic blue horses

A celebrated painting that was denounced as degenerate by the Nazis may have survived the aftermath of war

Iraqi troops in push to recapture old city of Mosul

Heritage bodies face major task in saving historic buildings when Isil extremists are ousted

Erotic bookcase by Carabin goes on show outside Paris for first time

Rare piece of furniture features in show on French Belle Époque prints at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum

Declassified papers reveal Margaret Thatcher’s spirited campaign to get the Thyssen collection

But the British prime minister was thwarted by the baron’s Spanish wife and her sick dog, so the works ended up in Madrid

Sale of Pontormo portrait prompts calls for reform of UK export system

New York hedge-fund manager is the latest foreign buyer to refuse a matching offer from a UK museum

The New York entrepreneur behind the biggest private Rembrandt collection

Highlights of Thomas Kaplan's Leiden Collection go on show at the Louvre this week

The biggest challenges facing London’s new museum directors

As Tristram Hunt starts his new job at the V&A and Maria Balshaw joins the Tate in June, we look at some of the hurdles they will need to overcome

British Museum-trained Iraqi archaeologist assesses Isil destruction of Nimrud

Ancient Assyrian site was almost completely demolished by extremists

Louvre exhibition debunks 'isolated genius' myth of Vermeer

Dutch artist may not have secluded himself in Delft as previously believed

UK export licence denied for Pontormo portrait

National Gallery London's £30m offer to buy painting was rejected by US owner