Heritage

France's long-awaited restitution policy is finally here

Guidelines for returning objects looted from former colonies and during the Nazi period are laid out in a report commissioned by Emmanuel Macron and written by former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez

Monumental Cold War-era Karl Marx mosaic restored in east Germany

Josep Renau's vast memorial in Halle-Neustadt is one of the most important surviving public works of art produced in communist East Germany

Isolation is thwarting archaeological discoveries of Afghanistan’s rich heritage

Conservation works on an ancient burial site at Shewaki near Kabul had to be halted due to lack of funding and resources

The mystic and the Modernist: Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian

We explore the Tate Modern exhibition. Plus, the Whitney's Jaune Quick-to-See Smith retrospective and a reconstructed Roman gateway in England

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Texan princess evicted from Rome villa with Caravaggio ceiling

Following a bitter inheritance dispute, Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi has been court-ordered to leave the historic property, while valuable artworks and documents are to be removed or destroyed

Italy throws Afghanistan a lifeline for restoration in the Bamiyan area

A new Unesco initiative will provide much-needed local employment in the vulnerable heritage site

Back after 2,000 years: the Roman gateway to Britain

The Richborough fort in Kent, the base for the Roman invasion of Britain in 43AD, reopens to the public

Milan authorities must hire conservationist after struggling to clean statue damaged by climate activists

Italian officials have approved draft bill to bring in tougher sanctions for protestors who target heritage

'We need to act fast': experts race to preserve Afghanistan's ancient Buddhist heritage site Mes Aynak from copper mining

Taliban government has backed a new conservation project led by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and Aliph

Booksreview

A globe-trotting guide to contested sites, dubious historical restorations and harrowing heritage destruction

Book "Monumental Lies" is a searching exploration of the truths and untruths embodied in contested heritage

Italynews

Italy plans high-speed train between Pompeii and Rome to increase tourism to heritage sites

The €35m development will include a new train station adjacent to the Pompeii archaeological site

Antiquities trafficking investigator appointed president of Harvard Law Review—a position once held by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Barack Obama

Apsara Iyer says looting of Indian temples was a "wake-up call" to understanding how cultural heritage and crime intersect

New museum planned for ancient Mayan complex Chichén Itzá, Mexico’s most visited archeological site

With first leg of controversial $20bn Maya Train project set to begin operation, authorities have stepped up excavation and development of archaeological destinations

Revealed: Rome's new €100m culture masterplan

The National Roman Museum's director Stéphane Verger shares the radical new plans that will revamp four landmark museum and heritage sites in Italy

Arianna Antoniutti. With additional reporting by Gareth Harris

US supports restoration of Pakistan’s epic walled city

As country is mired in economic and political turmoil, major upgrading project forges ahead with restoration of important sites at the ancient heart of Lahore

In Burkina Faso and Mali, pilot scheme builds defences against illegal trafficking of cultural antiquities

Icom and Aliph’s $250,000 project is providing training and security measures for 22 museums in countries ravaged by war

Full scale of damage to Turkish and Syrian heritage emerges after devastating earthquakes

Many archaeological landmarks and religious sites in the region have been heavily damaged or destroyed

Hogarth's forgotten stairwell: hidden in a 900-year-old London hospital are painter's vast canvases

Works will be restored and opened to the public to mark 900th anniversary of the St Bartholomew’s Hospital

Turkey-Syria earthquake: the race to save damaged heritage sites

Plus, Alice Neel's largest UK show and a dazzling turn-of-the-century blanket

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by David Clack and Aimee Dawson
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UK exhibition uncovers holy link between Henry VIII’s rival wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon

Both British queens owned the same prayerbook, curators at Hever Castle in England have found

Trove of coded letters written by an imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots are cracked

Around 55 messages composed by the monarch reveal her condition under captivity and negotiations for her release

Heritageanalysis

Art damaged in Brazil's revolt could become part of a memorial

Attack by far-right supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro has left some works of art beyond repair

Huge earthquakes in Turkey and Syria devastate heritage sites including 2,000-year-old castle

Gaziantep Castle has been heavily damaged by quakes that have killed more than 1,000 people

Ancient Pompeii site installs 'invisible' solar panels that look like Roman terracotta tiles

New invisible technology is being used to generate electricity at the archaeological site—and will also be used for other historic buildings in Italy, Portugal and Croatia

Previously declared at risk, the UK's ‘Stonehenge of the North’ is now open to the public

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomes the project which tells ‘the story of ancient Britain’

Unesco adds Ukrainian city of Odesa to World Heritage List of endangered sites

The decision "recognises the outstanding universal value of the site and the duty of all humanity to protect it", the UN cultural organisation states

Looted archaeological artefacts worth more than $20m returned to Italy

The 60 objects included some that had been on display at the Metropolitan Museum and several that had been bought by billionaire collector Michael Steinhardt

Heritagecomment

London National Gallery revamp sets troubling precedent on the preservation of newer heritage sites

Existing plans to redevelop the gallery’s Sainsbury Wing, which will transform its entrance, demonstrate how newer listed buildings are treated with less respect than older heritage sites

Heritagecomment

'Scythian gold is at the heart of Russia’s identity war'

Art historian and curator Konstantin Akinsha asserts that Russian attempts to claim succession from the ancient Scythians date back to the 18th century