Lucrezia Borgia: scandalous or scandalised?

533 years ago this week, a girl was born whose life would prove to be so full of drama and scandal that it has been turned into a play by Victor Hugo, an opera by Donizetti (read the libretto, see …

---

Mixed-up mermaids

I’ve always been fascinated by the folklore around mermaids, so when I had the opportunity to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, for a meeting about the new Europeana Creative project, I had to take the time to seek out this little …

---

Pieter de Hooch of the Dutch Golden Age

Pieter de Hooch, baptised on this day, 20 December, in 1629, was a Dutch painter, famous principally for his depictions of the domestic life of women and children, and for his use of light. His work is related in theme …

---

Caravaggio: a Murderous Artist

The personalities featured on the blog this week do nothing to debunk the idea of artists having fiery temperaments. On Tuesday, we told the tale of Baroque architect Francesco Borromini, whose bitter rivalry with fellow artist Bernini is thought to …

---

Avant-garde Pioneer: Man Ray

Emmanuel Radnitzky was born on this day in 1890. The son of Russian immigrants to the USA, his family soon moved from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, New York. In 1912 Emmanuel, Manny for short, followed his brother’s lead in changing the …

---

Art: How Much Would You Pay?

The love of art crosses boundaries, transcends social classes and costs nothing. Owning art, on the other hand, comes at a price. A high price. In some cases, a massively high price. You could buy houses, or indeed whole streets, …

---

---