Santa Claus is famous for his; today’s hipsters accessorise them – but the fashion for facial hair can be traced all the way back to Ancient Rome.
Blame the pandemic; blame social media, but as winter rolls around again it can feel as if we’ve forgotten how truly to celebrate. But antiquity offers us the key to re-learning how to have fun, as opposed to merely pretending we are.
Albrecht Dürer felt that he had to prove his ability as a painter to Italian audiences. His time in Venice left an indelible imprint on Italy’s culture and on the great artist’s legacy.
The standardisation of British art schools has replaced a once living tradition of artistic practice with self-justificatory faux-academese.
After unpromising beginnings and innumerable controversies, Pittacus, seventh-century ruler of Mytilene on Lesbos, should be remembered as one of the great leaders of his age.
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