paintings

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Golden tongues

Thirteen mummies with golden tongues in their mouths have been discovered at el-Bahansa (Minya) by the Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission, a joint Spanish–Egyptian team led by the Institute of Ancient Near East Studies of the University of Barcelona. The mummies were…

DAH BE 2024 Mastaba tomb

A remarkable painted tomb

An ornately decorated mastaba has been discovered in the cemetery at Dahshur, the southernmost of the necropolises associated with Memphis, an ancient Egyptian capital. The tomb was discovered during recent excavations by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Cairo, which has…

Painted mastaba tomb at Dahshur

An Old Kingdom mastaba tomb with painted decorations has been discovered by a team from the German Archaeological Institute working at Dahshur. Inscriptions name the deceased as Senebnebef, a palace official, and his wife Idut, a priestess of Hathor. The…

Left The main courtyard of the renovated Farnese home in Parma, the Palazzo della Pilotta, with contemporary artist Maurizio Nannucci’s neon installation Time Past, Present, and Future.

Palatial pleasures in Parma

The former palace of the Farnese family in Parma contains no fewer than five cultural institutions. Dalu Jones is our guide to the recently renovated Pilotta complex, where the dukes of Parma put art, archaeology, and theatre to use.

Interpreting art

Take Roman family portraits, for example. Either they were on public display to advertise the social standing of the family, or they were objects of veneration in the cult of ancestor-worship; or both.

LEFT Work under way in the apse of a church in Old Dongola, which may be the city’s cathedral and the largest church of medieval Nubia.

An archbishop’s apse?

In the latest season of fieldwork this year, a team led by Artur Obłuski, director of the PCMA UW, cleaned the dome of a large tomb and the wall of the church’s apse, revealing paintings with two rows of monumental figures, possibly apostles.

Photo: Margrethe K H Havgar, Museum of Cultural History

World News: Norway, Indonesia, Spain

Viking ship burial in Norway A Viking ship burial was recently discovered at Gjellestad, Norway, during a ground-penetrating radar survey. It is now being excavated by the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. The ship is just one part of…

JMW Turner The Fighting Temeraire

Turner’s Modern World

All great artists need great subjects. Joseph Mallord William Turner was no exception. Although extremely talented, he was especially fortunate to have lived through stirring times.

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Lascaux IV

As far as I could tell, every minor contour of the original has been replicated, as of course have the paintings themselves.

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Travels to Malta

At the far end of Valletta, within the massive angular bulwarks of the fortress of St Elmo poking out at the entrance of the Grand Harbour, is a museum devoted to the town’s history and its struggle for survival.