Art history

Alex von Tunzelmann explores the stories behind some of the world’s most controversial statues – and gives her take on whether they should stand or fall. (Image by Getty Image)

Should they stand or fall? The great statue debate

Napoleon portrait by Jacques-Louis David shows is perhaps the most famous painting of the French emperor with one hand tucked out of sight

Why do Napoleon’s portraits often show him with one hand inside his shirt? The story of the French emperor’s missing hand…

Jacqueline Riding discusses the life and work of the famed artist and satirist William Hogarth, and explores how his many engravings and portraits charted the morals and vices of the 18th century. (Image by Getty Images)

Hogarth: the chronicler of the 18th century

Ritchie Robertson responds to listener questions on the intellectual and philosophical movement that swept Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. (Image by Getty Images)

The Enlightenment: everything you wanted to know

Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (Photo by Alamy)

Ravenna: from Roman powerhouse to artistic hub

John Higgs discusses the extraordinary life and art of William Blake – an eccentric outsider once dismissed as a madman, but now hailed as a genius. (Image by Getty Images)

William Blake: “artist or genius, or mystic, or madman”

Sometimes described as England’s Leonardo, Hans Holbein the Younger painted the great and the good of Tudor society. Franny Moyle chronicles his incredible art and tempestuous life. (Image by Getty Images)

Painting the Tudors: Hans Holbein the Younger

Cynthia Saltzman reveals how the French leader plundered Europe’s greatest works of art. (Image by Getty Images)

Napoleon the art thief

Portrait of Carlo Broschi (stage name Farinelli), the most famous opera singer of the 18th century. (Photo By DEA/A. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Castrated Georgian opera stars: the stars of the 18th century

Zdeněk Burian’s painting from 1952 offers a sympathetic portrayal of Neanderthals practising cannibalism. Self-assurance, even contentment, emanate from “It appears as a calm response to death, rather than murderous carnage,” writes Rebecca Wragg Sykes. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)

General prehistory

Neanderthal in the mirror: our changing perceptions of these ancient humans

Drawing of an old and young man, possibly Salai, by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci’s private relationships: what’s known?

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo

Leonardo & Michelangelo: rivalry and inspiration

Leonardo da Vinci’s full-scale cartoon drawing of Isabella d’Este

Leonardo da Vinci’s patrons: the people who paid for the masterpieces

Salt cellar with Neptune and Tellus by Benvenuto Cellini

Benvenuto Cellini: how the ‘bad boy’ sculptor and goldsmith gives us a fresh perspective on the Renaissance

'The Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings: a guide to 8 famous works