most recent articles
Here are articles that have recently been included in the Journal:
Deception and Misdirection: Hieronymus Bosch’s The Conjuror; we explore this enigmatic 15th century painting of trickery and deception, whose real meaning has remained disputed to this day
Murder, Caravaggio and The Taking of Christ: the Irish rediscovery of a lost masterpiece by Caravaggio, and its unexpected connection with a murder over a hundred years ago
Bruegel and the Two Faces of Summer: Haymaking and the Harvesters: two paintings from a series described as the highpoint of Bruegel’s lifework, and a milestone in the development of European landscape painting.
Forgotten Women Artists #6: Christina Robertson: A Scottish artist in Russia: co-authored by Dr Elizaveta P Renné & Jane Anderson, this examines the extraordinary life & career of a highly successful 19C Scottish painter who became virtually forgotten in her homeland after she left to pursue her art career in Russia
Reflections on a Masterpiece: Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère -- an analysis of Manet’s last and perhaps greatest masterpiece, described as “one of the canonical images for modernist art history”
The Art of Shadows: the many, often-overlooked, ways in which cast shadows are used by artists ~ or not used ~ to convey reality, mood or information in their works
An Exploration of Vision Reality and Illusion -- Jan van Eyck's Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele; we analyse how this highly advanced 15th century artist was able to manipulate illusions in order to create a totally convincing and realistic world
Exploring Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street, Rainy Day: an exploration of Caillebotte’s famous painting, sometimes described as his masterpiece, and of his lesser-known but major achievements in a wide range of other fields (March 2023)
How one man saved the “greatest picture in the world” -- the story of how a WW2 artillery commander risked court martial to save Piero della Francesca’s 15th century masterpiece The Resurrection. (November 2022)
Carpaccio's Miracle on the Rialto: an extraordinary painting that features a miracle, a splinter and an exorcism, not to mention slaves and a small fluffy dog (July 2022)
Masters of All they Survey -- Gainsborough’s Mr and Mrs Andrews: it's one of England’s most popular paintings, though it was unfinished & long hidden from public view, and there are notable controversies over its meaning (June 2022)
Vermeer’s concert, the Gardner collection, and the art heist of the century: how Jan Vermeer's The Concert became the centrepiece in a massive, unsolved art theft (April 2022)
Forgotten Women Artists #5 Thérèse Schwartze: we examine the life and career of Thérèse Schwartze, a talented Dutch artist who achieved the peak of fame and success over a century ago, only to fade into obscurity.(January 2022)
Bruegel's Peasant Wedding Feast: the case of the missing bridegroom and other mysteries (September 2021)
A very rich book for the very rich: a detailed look at the 15th century ‘January’ miniature from The Limbourg brothers' Très Riches Heures of the Duke de Berry (May 2021)
Bruegel’s White Christmas: The Census at Bethlehem: the masterpiece that was probably the first-ever painting of a White Christmas, and one of the first times that a painter ever depicted this pivotal Biblical episode (February 2021)
Understanding Petrus Christus’ A Goldsmith in his Shop: we look at the various interpretations of what this 15th century masterpiece actually depicts (November 2020)
Millet and the Angelus: the strange story of how this painting of potato farmers sold for a fortune, inspired patriotic fervour, a madman’s attack, an obsession by van Gogh, a possible dead baby & the introduction of a revolutionary new way of rewarding artists [August 2020]
The Sphinx of Delft: the astonishing twists and turns in the reputation of the celebrated 17th century Dutch artist Jan Vermeer [April 2020]
The Two Women in White: we examine two extraordinary creations, both involving mysterious women in white, that enthralled and shocked 1860s Britain ~ Wilkie Collins’ bestselling novel and Whistler’s outrageous portrait [January 2020]
Lost in Translation: Bruegel’s Tower of Babel: we examine the origins of this iconic work, and explore what the artist was trying to say [October 2019]
Rose-Marie Ormond: John Singer Sargent’s muse and “the most charming girl that ever lived” [June 2019]
Forgotten Women Artists #4: Michaelina Wautier: in the fourth in our series on forgotten women artists, we analyse how the reputation of Michaelina Wautier has been resuscitated after a break of more than three centuries [April 2019]
The extraordinary career of Granville Redmond ~ deaf artist, silent movie actor and mentor to Charlie Chaplin [January 2019]
Perception and Blindness in the 16th Century: Bruegel’s The Blind Leading the Blind: our analysis of this painting by Bruegel, a work that has been described as one of the finest pictures ever painted [October 2018]
The rescue of the fabulous lost library of Deir al-Surian. The momentous rescue of one of the greatest libraries in Christendom, from the desolate wastes of the Egyptian Desert (June 2018)
Forgotten Women Artists #3: Marie-Gabrielle Capet: In the third in our series on forgotten women artists, we look at the life and works of the talented but obscure 18C French painter Marie-Gabrielle Capet (Mar 2018)
Deception and Misdirection: Hieronymus Bosch’s The Conjuror; we explore this enigmatic 15th century painting of trickery and deception, whose real meaning has remained disputed to this day
Murder, Caravaggio and The Taking of Christ: the Irish rediscovery of a lost masterpiece by Caravaggio, and its unexpected connection with a murder over a hundred years ago
Bruegel and the Two Faces of Summer: Haymaking and the Harvesters: two paintings from a series described as the highpoint of Bruegel’s lifework, and a milestone in the development of European landscape painting.
Forgotten Women Artists #6: Christina Robertson: A Scottish artist in Russia: co-authored by Dr Elizaveta P Renné & Jane Anderson, this examines the extraordinary life & career of a highly successful 19C Scottish painter who became virtually forgotten in her homeland after she left to pursue her art career in Russia
Reflections on a Masterpiece: Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère -- an analysis of Manet’s last and perhaps greatest masterpiece, described as “one of the canonical images for modernist art history”
The Art of Shadows: the many, often-overlooked, ways in which cast shadows are used by artists ~ or not used ~ to convey reality, mood or information in their works
An Exploration of Vision Reality and Illusion -- Jan van Eyck's Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele; we analyse how this highly advanced 15th century artist was able to manipulate illusions in order to create a totally convincing and realistic world
Exploring Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street, Rainy Day: an exploration of Caillebotte’s famous painting, sometimes described as his masterpiece, and of his lesser-known but major achievements in a wide range of other fields (March 2023)
How one man saved the “greatest picture in the world” -- the story of how a WW2 artillery commander risked court martial to save Piero della Francesca’s 15th century masterpiece The Resurrection. (November 2022)
Carpaccio's Miracle on the Rialto: an extraordinary painting that features a miracle, a splinter and an exorcism, not to mention slaves and a small fluffy dog (July 2022)
Masters of All they Survey -- Gainsborough’s Mr and Mrs Andrews: it's one of England’s most popular paintings, though it was unfinished & long hidden from public view, and there are notable controversies over its meaning (June 2022)
Vermeer’s concert, the Gardner collection, and the art heist of the century: how Jan Vermeer's The Concert became the centrepiece in a massive, unsolved art theft (April 2022)
Forgotten Women Artists #5 Thérèse Schwartze: we examine the life and career of Thérèse Schwartze, a talented Dutch artist who achieved the peak of fame and success over a century ago, only to fade into obscurity.(January 2022)
Bruegel's Peasant Wedding Feast: the case of the missing bridegroom and other mysteries (September 2021)
A very rich book for the very rich: a detailed look at the 15th century ‘January’ miniature from The Limbourg brothers' Très Riches Heures of the Duke de Berry (May 2021)
Bruegel’s White Christmas: The Census at Bethlehem: the masterpiece that was probably the first-ever painting of a White Christmas, and one of the first times that a painter ever depicted this pivotal Biblical episode (February 2021)
Understanding Petrus Christus’ A Goldsmith in his Shop: we look at the various interpretations of what this 15th century masterpiece actually depicts (November 2020)
Millet and the Angelus: the strange story of how this painting of potato farmers sold for a fortune, inspired patriotic fervour, a madman’s attack, an obsession by van Gogh, a possible dead baby & the introduction of a revolutionary new way of rewarding artists [August 2020]
The Sphinx of Delft: the astonishing twists and turns in the reputation of the celebrated 17th century Dutch artist Jan Vermeer [April 2020]
The Two Women in White: we examine two extraordinary creations, both involving mysterious women in white, that enthralled and shocked 1860s Britain ~ Wilkie Collins’ bestselling novel and Whistler’s outrageous portrait [January 2020]
Lost in Translation: Bruegel’s Tower of Babel: we examine the origins of this iconic work, and explore what the artist was trying to say [October 2019]
Rose-Marie Ormond: John Singer Sargent’s muse and “the most charming girl that ever lived” [June 2019]
Forgotten Women Artists #4: Michaelina Wautier: in the fourth in our series on forgotten women artists, we analyse how the reputation of Michaelina Wautier has been resuscitated after a break of more than three centuries [April 2019]
The extraordinary career of Granville Redmond ~ deaf artist, silent movie actor and mentor to Charlie Chaplin [January 2019]
Perception and Blindness in the 16th Century: Bruegel’s The Blind Leading the Blind: our analysis of this painting by Bruegel, a work that has been described as one of the finest pictures ever painted [October 2018]
The rescue of the fabulous lost library of Deir al-Surian. The momentous rescue of one of the greatest libraries in Christendom, from the desolate wastes of the Egyptian Desert (June 2018)
Forgotten Women Artists #3: Marie-Gabrielle Capet: In the third in our series on forgotten women artists, we look at the life and works of the talented but obscure 18C French painter Marie-Gabrielle Capet (Mar 2018)