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Sarah Raven: ‘I find nature very inspiring and reassuring, when things are feeling a bit dire in the world and we have world wars’The gardener and writer on her love of Cretan wild flowers, why she quit her job as a doctor, her husband’s grandmother Vita Sackville-West — and her consuming passions.
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What happened to bottom knockers, canine-bothering dog whippers and grime-caked mudlarks?Stephen Roberts explores some unfortunate occupations best consigned to history.
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A distinguished copy of 'Salvator Mundi' is now on offer — could it also be the truest to Leonardo da Vinci's vision?One of the roughly 20 known versions of 'Salvator Mundi', executed by da Vinci's workshop, is being unveiled at TEFAF Maastricht, on the stand of British dealer Agnews Gallery.
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A wedding who’s who: Are you the high-maintenance bride, helicopter father or alternative couple?Giles Kime presents a dramatis personae of 21st-century nuptials. Illustrations by Sholto Walker.
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'I have 12 dogs and they are my greatest joy': These are a few of Manolo Blahnik's favourite thingsThe shoe designer speaks to Amie Elizabeth White. Illustrations by Ollie Maxwell.
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‘Never back a grey horse’: Where the Cheltenham Festival superstition comes fromJack Watkins breaks down this piece of Cheltenham folklore, as this year’s festival begins .
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Easel on the eye: The genius of John PiperJohn Piper was a modernist who rejected Modernism, a versatile artist who defied categories, but one who remained true to the spirit and detail of the places he painted
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What is everyone talking about this week: The man creating the new Turner PrizeLouis Elton, an alumnus of both Oxford and Cambridge, believes innovative artisanship is the answer to Britain's challenges. Now, he's launching a prize for what he calls the country's 'misfit makers'.
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Pamela Goodman: In the battle of the beauties, Mona Lisa will always come out on topOur monthly travel columnist and her family struggle to agree on whether Mona Lisa is a beauty for the ages or a plain Jane.
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A right royal affair with the starsScientific curiosity with the cosmos gripped the Royal Family for centuries, as Matthew Dennison reveals
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These are a few of James Middleton's favourite thingsThe Princess of Wales's brother reveals the three things he holds dear to his heart. Illustrations by Ollie Maxwell.
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Thomas Gainsborough means one thing in Britain. He means another in AmericaGilded Age industrialists were mad for the quintessentially English artist. A new exhibition at The Frick in New York City, focused on fashion in his portraiture, sets the stage for a revival.
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Sir Antony Gormley: Why I am continually captivated by Adriaen de Vries’s radical sculpture Antiope and TheseusSir Antony Gormley writes about why Adriaen de Vries’s sculpture may look vastly different from his own, 'Reflect', but still shares with it a fascination with balance and instability.
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'A blue-blood background and a drive to disrupt': Lady Violet Manners on the importance of preserving Britain's privately-owned country homesThe Viscountess talks about a childhood at Belvoir Castle, primogeniture and why Americans love a British country home.
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'My husband gave me a pendant full of melted snow from the top of Everest': Bridgerton's Julia Quinn on romantic gestures and her consuming passionsThe author on series four of the Netflix smash hit, why she feels the need to speak out about America’s politics and meeting Dame Jilly Cooper.
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'He was a French artist enamoured with light and colour, movement and lightness'An upcoming auction at Dreweatts will see works by Paul Lucien Maze up for sale. James Fisher delights in the artist's chronicling of mid-20th-century British life.
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'It’s come to my attention that standards are slipping': Sophia Money-Coutts on how to behave at the theatreOur weekly columnist is calling out badly-behaved theatre goers.
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Write side up: The enduring influence of literature in artThe most sensual pictures of women sprang from Ovid's verses, the Aeneid gave Turner his longest-lasting subject matter and Edward Burne-Jones saw himself in Arthur's deathless slumber.
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The only thing better than a stately home is a stately home in wooden miniatureMeet George Barham — the gifted woodcarver who can turn your family pile into a wooden masterpiece.
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The life of a BAFTA begins on an industrial estate in BraintreeLotte Brundle travels to Essex to visit the family-owned foundry that makes the UK's most iconic award.
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'I do write in and say they should have more about farming': Zandra Rhodes on The Archers, getting arrested and making clothes for Freddie MercuryLotte Brundle meets the 85-year-old fashion designer in her vibrant apartment above the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.
