Books
Seduction techniques: David Barrie on museums and 'soft power'
A study of its strategies and limitations
A room of mystery and ghoulish things: Dora Thornton on the Cobbe Cabinet of Curiosities
A new book offers a scholarly account of the Cobbe family's collection
Baroque bouquet : Susan Jenkins on the Festschrift in honour of Jennifer Montagu
Honoring a scholar of 17th-century Italian sculpture
A fountain of scholarship: Jeremy Warren on Giambologna’s Neptune Fountain
In a new book, the artist's project is seen from many angles
A swan-like artist: David Ekserdjian on the Renaissance master Andrea del Sarto
Draughtsmanship was one of the artist's finest skills
Survival strategies under the Nazis: Grey Gowrie on artists under Hitler
What happens to the civilised when civilisation breaks down?
Walter Benjamin: his life in postcards
On the 75th anniversary of the German writer’s death, we delve into his archive and discover his love for travelling—and writing home about it
Painting the Reformation: the Cranachs celebrated
Six books reveal the multifaceted output of the elder and younger Cranach in Thuringia
The fatal force of fashion in French public affairs
Elaborate, luxurious and costly styles, such as those worn by Marie-Antoinette, helped to alienate the court from the people
Hal Foster in praise of dead art
In an excerpt from his new book, the art historian discusses the return of performance and process in contemporary art
Pouring over the precious: James Yorke on luxury and sentimental objects
A survey of objects acquired between birth and death in early modern Europe that accompanies a Fitzwilliam exhibition
Frivolity, hedonism, sensuality and sex—OK!
The 19th-century revision of received perceptions of French Rococo art
When scholarship married the imagination: Peter Howell on Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
The French architect is the subject of two excellent new books
From obscurity to well-deserved fame: Clare Ford-Wille on a refreshing new book about Artemisia Gentileschi
The monograph shows that Gentileschi was well regarded in her time
‘Amateur management’ blamed as book claims third of galleries run at a loss
Magnus Resch conducted ten-year study
A problem for every problem: Mike Pepi on Art is a Problem
Joshua Decter’s book of essays raises questions it refuses to answer
It runs in the family: Shelley Rice on Alexander Nemerov’s family portrait
Diane Arbus and her brother, the poet Howard Nemerov, are the subject of a new memoir-cum-history
A forgotten artist returns: George Morland’s work is at last acknowledged
Morland was an exceptional landscape painter and a great observer of social mores
How was the Brancacci Chapel originally seen?
Florence’s early Renaissance showpiece revolutionised painting—but how was it seen, and used, at the time?
Portrait of the jeering artist as a young gent: Alexander Adams on Francis Picabia
The artist’s conventional beginnings belie his artistic proclivity for mockery. By Alexander Adams
Photography features prominently in a new study of the New Objectivity
Elizabeth Clegg examines a new survey
Having fun with England’s prelates: Rosemary Horrox on the 'decorated' style
The mainstream Gothic architectural aesthetic was more fecund than any marginal “alternative”
Not an easy name: Lelia Packer on the importance of Joachim Wtewael
The artist has been unfairly overlooked, but the major monograph accompanying a forthcoming show affirms his place among the finest Dutch masters
Make it look like me: the Pygmalion complex across the ages
On the myriad meanings of Medieval speaking sculpture, artists’ models, mannequins and royalty in wax
How Luca della Robbia melded music and sculpture in his organ loft
Luca’s panels require multi-sensory perception and 3D thought
James Barry's secret bomb at the Society of Arts
The hidden meaning of his paintings series is revealed
‘You must guard your own henhouse and often from your own foxes’
Book trade calls for self-policing as library thefts are growing problem