Tim Smith-Laing holds a DPhil on early modern mythography from Merton College, Oxford
The Decameron is but one of the historical touchstones that commentators have turned to during the health crisis. But do they really help us orientate ourselves?
Potatoes orbit around barstools and beer spurts out of coasters in the whimsical worlds explored by Sigmar Polke
A gathering of some 300 drawings at the Prado is a comprehensive guide to life in the artist's cruel and chaotic world
An exhibition in Munich explores the less familiar aspects of the portraitist’s work, including the support he gave to his peers
The artist is one of few to have attempted to illustrate Venus and Adonis
An interview with the Belgian sculptor, who discusses hope, suffering, bodies, and blankets
The baroque painter’s depictions of human suffering are extreme – but so was the violence of much early modern life
Bruegel may have painted many peasants, but he was one of the most complex – and urbane – artists of his day
The distorted Character Heads of the 18th-century sculptor have long perplexed critics
The photographs of Dorothea Lange and Vanessa Winship share a fascination with society in flux
