Medieval art

The Big Review: 14th-century Siena is magnificent at the Met ★★★★★

Reuniting the surviving sections of the city’s altarpiece marvel is just the start of this important, beautifully staged show at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art

Voynich Manuscript scans reveal early decoding attempt

Multispectral imaging has uncovered that the baffling symbols in the 15th-century document—dubbed the world’s most mysterious manuscript—were scrutinised by its owner, a Prague doctor

Medieval Siena gets its place in the spotlight at the National Gallery

An exhibition at the London museum, organised with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, brings together masterpieces by the likes of Duccio and Simone

In partnership withThe National Gallery

German medieval altarpiece wings that remained in one family for 500 years to be auctioned at Sotheby’s

The portraits painted by Bartholomäus Zeitblom carry an estimate of £400,000-£600,000

Booksreview

The genius of Germany’s medieval carvers

Wood has long been deep in the German psyche, as seen in the work of the country’s master sculptors

Siena's spectacular cathedral floor has been temporarily uncovered

Visitors to the Italian city have a rare chance to glimpse the inlaid marble floor, begun in the 14th century

Victoria and Albert Museum lends a trove of medieval treasures to Qatari collection space in Paris

More than 70 items have been loaned to the Al Thani Collection space, which displays works belonging to Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah

Booksreview

A medieval tale of the jester, the priory and the hospital: book uncovers church's history for 900th anniversary

As Saint Bartholomew the Great celebrates nine centuries, a new volume explores how the church has, against the odds, remained at London’s heart

The Voynich Manuscript’s mysteries endure more than a century after its discovery

Though scientific research has revealed much about the manuscript’s material properties and trajectory, its meaning remains elusive

Ethiopia's oldest icon may be the work of an Italian master

An artist from Siena could have travelled to Africa in the 14th century to create triptych, which is in a remote monastery in northern Ethiopia

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”

'Hurrah, it’s leprosy!' How a conservator and a historian are decoding the grisly tales in Canterbury Cathedral’s stained-glass windows

New research for British Museum exhibition means panels depicting St Thomas Becket's healing miracles will be correctly reassembled after centuries in the wrong order

Gifted to the English city 80 years ago, Coventry's medieval Charterhouse will finally open to the public

After a £4.3m National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and years of restoration, the historic priory is set to open this summer

Bavarian frescoes are confirmed to be among the oldest in northern Europe

New examinations of John the Baptist wall paintings in Augsburg cathedral date them to more than 1,000 years ago

Historic Book of Lismore returns to Ireland from Britain

Medieval vellum manuscript has been donated to University College Cork by Chatsworth, seat of the Dukes of Devonshire

This small book tackles for the first time a very large subject: how relics were displayed in the Middle Ages

The way in which relics were presented determined what and how people thought of them, according to this publication of lectures

Booksreview

Born of hate and contempt, how the Bargello's extraordinary collection of medieval ivories came to be

Book tells the tale of how Italian museum amassed such a vast array of important sculptures thanks to Frenchman Louis-Claude Carrand

Ghent Altarpiece: latest phase of restoration unmasks the humanised face of the Lamb of God

Second stage of open-access restoration of Van Eyck brothers’ masterpiece strips away 16th-century overpainting to reveal an abundance of fine details

Culture of chivalry is not quite dead, but it certainly is not what it used to be, new book shows

Essays on the concept are useful for their discussions of arms, heraldry, castles and gardens as well as its long lasting effect on European culture

Scholarly book on European coronation rituals supplies sound background to 11th-century art history

This book corrects the misleading impression given by historians that the High Middle Ages were a transition to secularisation of the royal state

Catalogue of Colmar Treasure conjures up picture of 14th-century bourgeois Jewish life in France

Hoard of objects loaned by Paris's Musée de Cluny to the Metropolitan Museum of Art tells a complex tale

Beyond Europe: book on illuminated manuscripts reveals worldwide nature of the Middle Ages

New academic concept of "Global Middle Ages" explored through a survey of illustrated texts from around the world

Glam rock: alabaster was not medieval England's 'poor man's marble' new book finds

Used in high status projects and throughout the continent, Kim Woods's detailed study challenges misconceptions of the carving rock's status

Medieval books’ margins are shown to be areas of dissent and fun, rather than mere doodling

The extra-textual decoration of medieval illuminated manuscripts are full of clues about sections of society normally overlooked by historians

The art-historical treasures of Clementia of Hungary, Queen of France

Book looks at one royal's Medieval gifts, giving and inventories

When Saharan sands glittered with gold: how the world's largest desert was a major medieval trade route

New exhibition at the Block Museum of Art looks at the artefacts that flowed through the region assisted by the spread of Islam

Booksreview

The architectural and imaginative influence of the Holy Sepulchre and the Dome of the Rock in Western building styles

This book accounts for building histories, designs and geographical spread of church inspired by the Jerusalem prototypes

Restoration of rare English Medieval altarpiece reveals a history of serial vandalism

The Battel Hall retable, which survived the fury of 16th-century iconoclasts, bears later scars of graffiti and "witchmarks" against evil spirits