3/2/26 I wonder about the Roman woman who actually wore this elegant necklace some 1,800 years ago ~ it features lilac amethysts and small green emeralds, with gold shield-shaped links, & is attributed to the 3rd century www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

I like this impressive entrance door of the Naval Centre in Florida Street, Buenos Aires, topped with a musical sea nymph. Constructed in 1914, with metalwork by Luis Tiberti & Sons

Ancient Egyptian cosmetic containers from 3,000 years ago ~ dish in the shape of an ibex with bound legs / and a tube for kohl eye liner in the form of a nude female figure

Goya paints his friend, the writer Marquise de la Solana ~ pale and dignified, almost ghostly, with the large pink rosette the only source of colour. She holds a fan, her hands are crossed (as are her feet), & she regards us, knowing that her early death is imminent (1795)

The nominal subject of this painting by Albrecht Altdorfer is the tiny St George and the Dragon in the foreground, but the real hero is the dense, restless forest where every leaf seems charged with energy (1510, Pinakothek, Munich)

Art nouveau façade of ‘A la Cloche d’Or’ (= At the Golden Bell), now a jewellery store, in Rue des Manneliers, Lille (1906)

4,000 year old pectoral with necklace, from tomb of Egyptian Princess Sithathoryunet ~ cloisonné enamel with gold & 372 fashioned pieces of lapis lazuli, turquoise, garnets & other semiprecious stones, flanked by falcons, as symbols of the sun god www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...

Buried in a pit under the Great Pyramid of Giza about 4,500 years ago, this is the Khufu Ship. When first uncovered, in 1954, you could still smell the scent of the cedar wood. Now housed in the new Grand Egyptian Museum

Can’t help liking this tiny Egyptian mosaic glass owl, attributed to 2nd-1st century BC www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6...

Rabbits gambol as symbols of fertility in this altarpiece by Giovanni de Paolo, depicting not only the carnal sinners Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Paradise but also the Annunciation, where the Virgin hears the news of her impending motherhood (1435, NGA, Washington)

23/1/26 Here's the Art Nouveau staircase and landing in the ‘Hotel’ Tassel, a townhouse in Brussels designed by architect Victor Horta in 1893 stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/art-nou...

In the later part of Gustav Klimt’s career, his landscapes verged on abstraction, with massed colour fields & lack of people. They also featured extravagantly high or low horizons ~ as in these two contrasting paintings of the Attersee, where he often spent summer holidays

A young girl engages us with her direct gaze in this portrait drawing by UK artist Frances Bell (2020) www.francesbellpaintings.co.uk

Can't resist revisiting this Art Nouveau winding staircase decorated with metal flowers and vines, designed by architect Ede Magyar, at Reök Palace in Szeged, Hungary (1907)

Caillebotte’s Young Man at his Window depicts his brother René from behind, surveying sunlit streets of Haussmann-ised Paris, deserted but for unescorted woman, two carriages and distant pedestrians. Perspective is that of a wide-angle lens photo (1875) artinsociety.com/pt-3-photogr...

Vibrant watercolours from the journal of Susan Veeder, who joined her captain husband on the whaler Nauticon for a gruelling five-year voyage visiting places as varied as Tahiti, the Arctic and Cape Horn (1848-53) publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-ar...

British artist Rob Rowland specialises in railway paintings ~ here, I’m enjoying the night-time atmosphere and lighting effects he achieves in this nostalgic image of a misty, wet Drury Hill, Nottingham in the early 60s

Metre-high marble head of Antinous, the teenage Greek male favourite of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. When the head was unpacked on its return from an exhibition tour, it was obvious that someone had given it a couple of kisses (Louvre, 2nd century)

The traditional ox and donkey nuzzle the swaddled infant Jesus, in this detail from the wonderful 13th century marble pulpit of the Romanesque Duomo of Barga (attributed to Guido Bigarelli da Como)

UK textile artist Alison Holt uses a basic Bernina sewing machine in creating impressive embroidery scenes, such as this, inspired by the Shropshire/Wales border countryside alisonholt.com

Leonardo’s charcoal and chalk study for the angel Uriel, and how the angel appears in his Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre, c 1486)

Stages in Picasso’s depiction of a bull, with progressively increasing degrees of simplicity and abstraction (from ‘Bull’, lithograph, 1945/6)

Napoleon’s country house retreat, Malmaison, featuring Josephine’s free-range collection of almost impossible-to-believe exotic animals from Australia ~ black swans, dwarf emus and kangaroos (1810)

Frans Van Mieris’ self-portrait of himself interrupting his singing wife Cunera by passing her a glass of wine ~ music suggests harmony, the pet dog suggests fidelity, & I’m particularly enjoying the still-life of the flowers at L (The Interrupted Song, 1671) www.petitpalais.paris.fr/en/oeuvre/in...

Restoration of this 16C Italian painting ‘Woman at a Window’ revealed that the original, much more provocative, woman (at R) had been overpainted ~ compare the eyes, mouth, hair colour & bust ~ to conform to polite Victorian tastes (at L) www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/res...

Just admiring this dazzling Purple-breasted Sunbird (Nectarinia purpureiventris) from the highland forests of Uganda and nearby countries (photo: Lawrence Neo)

Just admiring this dazzling Purple-breasted Sunbird (Nectarinia purpureiventris) from the highland forests of Uganda and nearby countries (photo: Lawrence Neo)

Tiny 14C St Mary’s Church, Yorkshire, just 18 ft (5.5m) long, probably built as a chapel for long-gone medieval manor, & rescued in 1931 by local group of ramblers who organised its rehabilitation. Nearby is the site of a decisive battle in the Wars of the Roses

Only Nature could get away with this ~ my favourite outrageous caterpillar, the spectacular Saturniidae (Marco Fisher)

19C artist Ivan Shishkin was a prominent landscapist and etcher. Here’s his painting Morning in a Pine Forest (with bears by his friend Konstantin Savitsky) Tretyakov Gallery (1889)

Here are the beautiful results you can get when you freeze flowers in ice www.boredpanda.com/photography-...

In an Egyptian marsh, 3300 years ago ~ a tawny cat hunts birds among papyrus stems, as butterflies flutter about / and a young girl grabs the leg of her hunter father (Nebamun Tomb Chapel, Thebes, 1350 BC, British Museum) artinsociety.com/lost-masterp...

A surprising blend of functionality with artistic flair, Crossness Pumping Station was opened in 1865 to help divert sewage away from the fetid River Thames (designer: Joseph Bazalgette) www.exploringgb.co.uk/blog/crossne...

Admiring the nightingale amid roses in this restored 2,000-year-old fresco from the House of the Golden Bracelet in Vicolo del Farmacista, Pompeii (now in Naples Museum)

Austrian war artist Albin Egger-Lienz’ powerful depiction of the dehumanisation of war ~ soldiers under enemy fire struggle to advance across a furrowed field, heads averted, bodies bent so low that they are almost crawling. Some already lie still (The Nameless, 1915)

British watercolourist Jonathan Wolstenholme depicts old books that have sprouted arms and come alive, with such detail that you can read the words on the page. Here, with a glass of wine / and playing chess

Eggs, fresh bread, a cool glass of wine, and a flower to rest your eyes on ~ I like the simplicity of 17th century German still-life specialist Georg Flegel’s ‘Snack with Fried Eggs’ (1630), State Gallery Aschaffenburg

This is apparently the oldest known piece of cake ~ about 4,200 years old, found in the ancient Egyptian tomb of high-ranking government official Pepi’Onkh, a tasty honey & sesame snack for his journey to the hereafter www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2025/9/...

It’s hard to escape being drawn in by the compelling gaze of this woman, depicted with extraordinary realism by early 18th century German portraitist Balthasar Denner (Oil on copperplate, Hermitage Museum) www.hermitagemuseum.org/digital-coll...

This work by Pieter Buegel is probably the very first painting of a White Christmas. The pregnant, blue-cloaked Mary rides a donkey led by Joseph, but they are inconspicuous as part of the throng (The Census at Bethlehem, 1566) www.artinsociety.com/bruegelrsquo...

From our archive ~ Abraham Werner's wonderful 19C book Nomenclature of Colours gives swatches of all colour tones, & where to find them in nature. So, for example, Bluish Green is the colour of thrush’s egg, underside of rose leaves, & the mineral beryl mymodernmet.com/werner-nomen...

This 1974 photo shows, with startling immediacy, a group of freshly-excavated 2,000 year-old Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, China, with their original vibrant colours. Once exposed to air & sunlight during excavation, the colours started to disappear almost immediately www.snopes.com/fact-check/t...

Sculptor Ron Mueck’s larger-than-life, hyper-realistic installations, with subjects ranging from the benign to the sinister ~ Couple under an Umbrella ■ Havoc (photo: Gautier Deblonde) AGNSW

Hilda Rix Nicholas pursued a successful & varied art career in London, France & Morocco before returning to paint in Australia. She lost her husband, mother & sister during WW1. Here, the intriguing Les Fleurs Dédaignées ■ The Summer House

Danish artist Peder Severin Krøyer invites us into his sunny garden, where his wife Marie sits reading in the shade, her dog sleeping at her feet, amongst a profusion of white roses (Roses, 1893)

A ship’s prow adorns this art nouveau ‘House of the Five Continents’ in Antwerp, designed in 1901 by Belgian architect Frans Smet-Verhas for the home’s shipbuilder owner

It is night & snow is falling. A geisha is out walking, protected by her umbrella. Her attendant (at R) holds a paper lantern to light their way, & carries a black case, probably for the geisha’s musical instrument. Both wear protective raised-platform shoes (Kitagawa Utamaro, 1797)

Originating in 17th century France, Parrot Tulips (Tulipanes papagayo), with their distinctive ruffled petals, are the beautiful show-offs of the flower world (photo: Muhammad Khalid)

British artist George Stubbs, best known for his paintings of horses, also did the first known painting of a ‘kongouro’ in Western art (1772). Of course, the very first depictions of kangaroos were done many millennia before (at far R, in Arnhem Land)

Five clay guard-dog figurines from North Palace in Nineveh, in present-day Iraq. About 2,700 years old, just 7cm long (3 in), with inscriptions of their fierce given names ~ Loud is his bark / Biter of his foe / Catcher of the enemy / Expeller of evil / Don’t think, bite! (British Museum)