Books
The bishop’s wine bath—with servants for show
A new book explores the social history of these homes
The Roman conquest of the past
Essays on the appropriation of cultural memory, identity and power
Personal and quirky: an account of J. M. W. Turner
This volume falls short of the “definitive” one that was intended
Pierre Bonnard: easily misrepresented
Few books adequately explain Bonnard’s intentions and achievements. A new one is no exception
The vicissitudes of Caravaggio: how the National Gallery capitalised on—and missed—opportunities to acquire works by the master
Although critics such as John Ruskin and Roger Fry rejected his work, collectors came around to Caravaggio's style
Despair, pleasure and pride: on the diaries of Eva Hesse
Her private writings are moving but share few of her ideas about art
The artist who was tied to the sun
The work of the French court sculptor François Girardon is synonymous with the reign of Louis XIV
That perpetually penniless savant: on Richard Bellamy and Eye of the Sixties
A biography of the art dealer is an exemplary work of journalism and research
Vasari: the artist who overshadowed himself
He is famous for his Lives, but his drawings deserve attention, too
High-profile patron Tiqui Atencio turns the spotlight on her fellow collectors with new book
Publication includes interviews with almost 100 art-world figures such as Maja Hoffmann and Damien Hirst<br> <br>
How bright the sunlight: on Lee Friedlander and the Western landscape
Richard Benson reflects on his travels with the photographer
Always the same eyes: on Robert Mapplethorpe
The artist combined provocative sex and pristine classicism in his photographs, but no one followed his lead
Looking in the dark: on artificial darkness in art and theatre
A new book by Noam Elcott unearths the role of mediated darkness in cultural history
After Caravaggio: Michael Fried on the painter's enormous influence
The art historian examines the long legacy of the Baroque painter
Undermined by silence: lack of provenance is devastating flaw of al-Sabah collection catalogue
Scholarly assessment is greatly hampered by the lack of detail on where and how the objects were acquired
All together now: on the Francis Bacon catalogue raisonné
The complete collection of Francis Bacon’s paintings is published—at last
From marriage bed to painted pottery: on Geothe's collection
The writer seriously collected maiolica—and enjoyed its light relief and eroticism
Putting history into art history: on 18th-century British Art
Recent scholarship examines the social context
The sedulous Stanleys: power at Knowsley Hall
The cultural intersection of power, patronage and politics
Very sharp, but not long enough
This account of Islamic arms and armour is superb, but a complete catalogue would have been better
Atmosphere, thought and feeling: on Giorgione and his contemporaries
The mastery of his art and that of his Venetian contemporaries
A monument to the living and the dead: on the Queen's arms and armour
Long in the making, the catalogue of her collection has been worth the wait
Loose language: on Liam Gillick's Industry and Intelligence
The artist's new book is confused and lacking in rigour
A sickly flower of Decadent London: on the work of Aubrey Beardsley
The complete works of the illustrator, presented in all their “corrupting” glory
The stones cry out: on Medieval art in war-torn Syria
The Ayyubid glories of Syria, now mostly in ruins
‘Utterly abolished, eradicated and erased out’—but never forgotten
The iconoclasms of the English Reformation may shed light on today’s cultural destructions