Dressing up – at balls, fetes and simply for fun – has long provided Britons of all classes with a creative outlet
As two of the British Library’s most beautiful manuscripts show, the art of illustration hit new and extraordinary heights in 15th-century Herat
In ‘Meet Me by the Fountain’, Alexandra Lange uncovers the surprisingly utopian origins of the modern mall and defends it from its critics
Portugal’s period of ascendancy can be charted through the paintings of the times
People have always been fascinated by forests but, as a show in Lille suggests, seeing them as ideal, untouched places misunderstands their true nature
More than a century later, the English cartoonist’s ingenious drawings can still tickle the imaginations of modern audiences
In ‘Enlightened Eclecticism’, Adriano Aymonino shows how the 1st Duke and Duchess of Northumberland made over their stately homes to advance their social ambitions
By turning social types into individuals, the photographer influenced many of his contemporaries and shaped how we see the 20th-century
Once overlooked by both artists and collectors, the urgency of landscape studies holds an obvious appeal for modern audiences
The second edition of the event concerns itself with ideas of belonging – and revels in the diversity of this part of north-west London
The British sculptor's monumental, minimal forms drew influence from his wide-ranging collection of ethnographic artefacts
Bruno Vandermeulen and Danny Veys use 19th-century processes to bring a very modern sensibility to archaeological sites in Anatolia
Romain Duris cuts a dash in a lavish French film about the engineer, but it’s the tower that’s the true star
There’s no disguising the gruesomeness of the trade that underpinned the scientific advances of the 18th century
Piranesi may have fallen out with his Irish patron but, in modern-day Dublin, artists inspired by his example are looking to mend fences
Since the invention of the medium, photography has always had an ambiguous relationship with architecture
An extremely close look at François Boucher’s portrait of the marquise in the Fogg Museum at Harvard homes in on the painter’s use of his signature colour
The artist’s latest film shows how the past permeates the present in a series of sumptuous scenes – but is it saying anything new?
Stephen Ellcock and Mat Osman try to bring visions of Albion up to date in their book ‘England on Fire’
Many artists have recorded their most intimate moments, but why should anyone else be interested in the results?
An ambitious exhibition at the Beaux-Arts de Paris considers the mutual rivalry between art and science over the centuries
A glittering array of objects and manuscripts from around the world shows off the astonishing diversity of the permanent collection
A groundbreaking study looks at the slave labour on which France’s maritime ambitions depended
Van Leo’s portraits capture a lost world and are in a class of their own, writes Raphael Cormack
