Discoveries

First Cupid, now a wine glass? More revelations emerge from restored Vermeer painting in Dresden

Major restoration on Girl reading a Letter at an Open Window shows a large studded goblet later covered by a green curtain

Discovered: a very early photograph of the trees in Van Gogh’s final picture, painted just hours before he fired the fatal shot

On the anniversary of Vincent’s death, his picture can be seen as “a suicide note in colour”

a blog by Martin Bailey

Exclusive: Rescued from an attic, lost Van Gogh landscape surfaces in Japan—here it is in colour

Vincent's watercolour of a Dutch meadow with cows was exhibited once, in 1903, and is known only from a small black-and-white photograph

a blog by Martin Bailey

Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old ancient city in Iraqi desert

Ten teams from international universities and museums will visit the Dhi Qar region in October for further excavations

Last Supper painting once adorned Shakespeare's classroom wall, new research suggests

Scholars believe the 15th-century decorative work was whitewashed in the Tudor era to obliterate the Roman Catholic imagery

One of the world's first art objects? Tiny 51,000-year-old deer bone was decoratively carved by Neanderthals, new study reveals

Discovery contradicts commonly held belief that these archaic humans were incapable of creating aesthetic items

A new Van Gogh work discovered hidden in a book

Reproduced here for the first time: a trio of sketches from Vincent’s village—designed as a bookmark

a blog by Martin Bailey

Discovered: American couple buys a picture by Van Gogh’s friend Edmund Brooke for $45 in antiques shop

Vincent was fascinated by his Australian colleague’s links with Japan—and together they painted landscapes in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise

a blog by Martin Bailey

New discoveries about Van Gogh’s olive grove paintings revealed in upcoming Dallas and Amsterdam exhibitions

In Provence, Vincent loved the gnarled trees with a passion that rivalled his beloved sunflowers

Rare medieval reliquary—stolen near Siena 32 years ago—discovered at collector's home in Sicily

Carabinieri's recovery of the San Galgano collection of “unprecedented importance”

Researchers discover trove of works by major African Modernists in rural Scotland

Paintings and drawings have been reattributed to some of the continent's most famous 20th-century names

Scientists unveil 'whitest paint ever'—and museums can't wait to get their hands on it

The material, which reflects 98% of light, will have significant use in cooling buildings and fighting climate change

Not a Leonardo! Clue to wax bust’s attribution lies inside a sperm whale

New scientific report confirms that wax bust of the goddess Flora—bought by the eminent museum director Wilhelm Bode—dates to after the Renaissance

The real reason why the Salvator Mundi didn't make it into the Louvre's Leonardo show

A feature-length film, screening next week in France, sheds new light on the political machinations surrounding the world's most controversial painting

Alison Cole. with additional reporting by Georgina Adam

'Lamborghini' of ancient Roman chariots unearthed near Pompeii

Experts believe that the ceremonial carriage may have been used for wedding processions

Munch vandalised own Scream painting, declaring himself a ‘madman’, new research finds

Infrared scans indicate that the phrase, "Can only have been painted by a madman", matches the artist’s handwriting

The mullet wasn't just an 80s thing, as this newly unearthed Iron Age figure suggests

Celtic deity from Cambridgeshire sports impeccable hair that is slightly longer at the back

'Rarest' royal Chinese porcelain bowl—at least 900 years old—discovered in Dresden state collection

It is the 88th known surviving piece of Ru ceramic, one of which sold for $37.7m at Sotheby's in 2017

Discoveries at Stonehenge highlight controversial new tunnel's threat to heritage

Recent excavation has uncovered late Neolithic and Bronze Age artefacts and human remains

Is this ‘enormously powerful’ painting of Jesus Christ by El Greco? Spanish expert questions new attribution

Art history scholars disagree over possible discovery of work by Renaissance master, which is owned by private collector

Revealed: the secrets behind Antonia, Modigliani’s ‘most complex work’

Researchers at C2RMF give an exclusive preview of their forensic study of all the artist's works in French museum collections

Freshman art history student uncovers identity of Mughal miniature

Connections have been made between the Colby College Museum of Art’s Man with a Flowered Coat and portraits of the 17th-century commander Sayyid Muzzafar in international collections

Incredible 1,000-year-old Viking burial site found in Norway belonged to 'Iron Age elite'

Using radar technology, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a 19m-long ship beneath a farmer's fields

Egyptian archaeologists make the 'biggest discovery of 2020'

More than 100 painted coffins have been found at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo

Constable oil sketch—previously dismissed as fake—goes on sale for £150,000

Sworder's auction house is selling the work, which is one of many by the Romantic painter depicting the area around Dedham Vale where he grew up

Stolen Klimt painting—buried for 20 years—to go back on show at Italian museum

Discovered by the gardener at the Ricci Oddi gallery last year, Portrait of a Lady will be the star of a series of exhibitions on the much-loved artist

The story behind a student who discovered Edward Hopper's earliest paintings were copies

New research finds teenage artist's landscapes were based on a magazine for amateurs learning how to paint

Remains of 'tall and robust' Anglo Saxon warrior found by amateur detectorist in UK

The 'Marlow Warlord' was buried with his weapons and luxuries for 1,400 years