Culture House
As a portrait sitter, Prince Philip was also a spirited sparring partner
In 2006, Jonathan Yeo painted Prince Philip’s portrait – an invigorating if at times nerve-wracking experience
Chris Grayling, culture vulture – and NPG trustee
The former transport secretary has been appointed as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery – so he must be a museum fanatic, right?
Flights of fancy – the artists who captured Barnard Castle
The 12th-century castle and surrounding town, located some 250 miles from London, have long attracted visually attentive visitors
MPs should move out of the Palace of Westminster immediately – and start restoring the building right now
With parliamentarians dialling in, the magic of Westminster has evaporated – so there’s no excuse not to move ahead with restoring the Houses of Parliament right now
Grayson Perry becomes the nation’s art teacher
The artist’s encouraging approach shows a nation in lockdown that technique isn’t everything
Has the digital museum finally come of age?
Thomas Campbell and Adam Koszary ask whether the online experience can ever compare to being in a physical gallery
Programme notes – Museums in Quarantine on BBC4, reviewed
Alistair Sooke and Simon Schama take on tour-guide duties in a series of new 30-minute films. But how satisfying can the Tate on the telly really be?
A cut above – the singular style of Reynolds Stone
The designer may not be a household name, but his work is still instantly recognisable – from passports and magazines to banknotes and bookplates
The trials and triumphs of Artemisia Gentileschi
The artist knew exactly how to cultivate her own image, ensuring her great success – both then and now
‘Hilary Mantel brings her characters to life with as much clarity as a Holbein portrait’
The novelist’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy suggestively fills in what art historians can only guess at
Material benefits – ‘Picasso and Paper’, reviewed
The pleasure Picasso took in paper as a medium was palpable in the Royal Academy’s recent show
Lads and lobsters – John Minton’s food illustrations
The artist’s designs for Elizabeth David’s cookery books evoke a happy world of fine living and dining
The triumphant – but temporary – return of Raphael’s tapestries to the Sistine Chapel
For just one week the full set of surviving tapestries commissioned by Pope Leo X could be seen in their original setting
Surreal deal – on Salvador Dalí’s tarot deck
Long out of print, the cards have been reissued by Taschen. But what of the artistic merits of their designs?
When Kirk Douglas played Van Gogh
A celebration of the late actor’s star turn as the tormented artist in Vincente Minnelli’s biopic of 1956
The Mesopotamian city that can claim to be the cradle of civilisation
Uruk may not be as well known as Babylon or Ninevah, but layers of complex, urban life have been uncovered there over the course of the 20th century
The great dictator – William Feaver’s biography of Lucian Freud, reviewed
The painter exerts the force of his personality from beyond the grave in the first part of this unconventional biography
Naked positions – Mary Beard’s Shock of the Nude, reviewed
The BBC programme takes a playful look at changing attitudes to nudity in art – from Michelangelo’s David to modern life drawing
How the only portrait Beethoven posed for in his lifetime became a much coveted memento
For the past two centuries, Joseph Karl Stieler’s portrait of the composer has been highly sought after by music lovers
Leonardo at the Louvre is full of wonders – and a few surprises
While the paintings are astonishing, the notebooks and sketches really draw you in
The ace caff that now leaves a bad taste – at the V&A Café
Henry Cole had the art of the museum cafe down to a tee. Oh for his veal cutlets!
Sajid Javid in the thick of it
Was the Chancellor of the Exchequer channelling an infamous fictional spin-doctor when he agreed to be interviewed in a Westminster cafe?
The Victorian collectors who loved art from ancient Egypt
The reunited fragments of a bowl in Bolton Museum can tell us a lot about the longstanding British enthusiasm for ancient Egypt
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What does it mean to regard video games as works of art?
A long-running debate has been revived by a court ruling that the realism of ‘Call of Duty’ makes it a work of art