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A mysterious Renaissance sorceress still casts her spell
The history of Dosso Dossi’s painting of the ‘sorceress’ – otherwise known as Melissa – reveals a bewitching tale of romance
What the Victorians liked to hang on their walls
Thanks to mass production (and reproduction), in the 19th-century some middle-class homes began to resemble miniature picture galleries
The American who conquered cafe society in Rome
For seven decades, Milton Gendel recorded his charmed existence in delightfully candid photos and diaries
Surveillance tactics – the art of spying on screen
The Cinémathèque française’s unsettling show about film-making and espionage reveals how much the two activities have in common
NFTs after the crypto crash – what happens now?
Are NFTs a revolutionary approach to new media art or simply a fleeting trend? Jane Morris explores the role of non-fungible tokens today
Mulling it over – how spiced wine became the festive drink of choice
Mulled wine may be the fuel for contemporary Christmas celebrations but drinking it is a tradition that dates back to antiquity
How did British artists respond to the AIDS crisis?
While Britain was no less affected by the disease than the United States, the response of its gay artists at the start of the crisis was provocatively distinct
Uncommon grounds – the market for paintings on gold
When it comes to gold-ground paintings from Italy, condition is everything and the older the work, the better
An appetite for art – sampling the Tate’s Cézanne-inspired menu
A menu designed to accompany the gallery’s survey of the artist pays homage to the flavours of Provence, but doesn’t quite live up to the works on show
The triumph of the Tudors
Other European dynasties of the period had equally thriving court cultures, but none has had such a hold on the popular imagination
The unfashionable art of Ruskin Spear
Tanya Harrod’s biography of the unfairly neglected painter champions his scenes of London working-class life
How Henry Fuseli turned poems into paintings
Few 18th-century painters were more enthusiastic about embracing English literature than the Swiss-born artist
Mimic men – how artists have spurred each other to new heights
An illuminating exhibition in Vienna explores how artists from the Greeks on have revelled in rivalries
On point – the wearing of lace has always been tied up with social status
Lace-making is an exacting craft – and who gets to wear the results is an equally delicate matter
Chasing the dragons – the art of ritual in ancient China
Curator Dany Chan takes a close look at an exquisite jade cup in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
In post-war Paris, housing could be really radical
The French architect Renée Gailhoustet designed some of the most ingenious post-war schemes built in Paris – and still lives in one of them today
How Shoji Hamada reinvented British ceramic traditions
The Japanese ceramicist infused his approach to pottery with British traditions from his travels in the 1920s, before bringing this new style back to his native country
Body politics – how physical illness affects an artist’s work
We are well used to art expressing mental anguish, yet when we are presented with work that responds to physical pain, our urge is to look away
How artistic collaborations made Hennessy collectable
The maison’s limited-edition bottles designed by contemporary artists, designers and architects have secured its place as leader in the luxury market
Committed to memory – how the Empress Eugénie kept the spirit of the Second Empire alive
Exiled in England, Napoleon III’s widow made sure that for as long she lived there was a corner of Hampshire that was forever France
Poetry in porcelain – a close look at a pair of bowls from the Qing dynasty
A delicately painted spring scene could suggest complex notions about beauty, hope and death
Wolfgang Tillmans has the time of his life at MoMA
The photographer’s seething retrospective at MoMA captures what it was like to be young and carefree after the fall of the Berlin Wall
Surreal suppers – the Japanese art of artificial food
Shokuhin sampuru (food models) may serve the promotional function of luring diners into restaurants but the creation of each replica is a delicate craft
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Can stones unlock the secrets of our existence?
Contemporary artists are looking to geological forms less for aesthetic cues than for perspective on time, place and human agency