Blue sky thinking with Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
The artist is better known for painting Ancien Régime aristocrats than for verdant hills and melancholy skies. That may change after an auction at Sotheby’s
Compton Verney’s new painted ladies are more about vice than virtue
A portrait saved for the nation has been praised for representing racial equality in 17th-century Britain, but it’s mainly a warning to women everywhere
A full house of Tudors at the Holburne Museum
Seeing the National Portrait Gallery’s treasures in a new setting allows us to appreciate the larger-life-than personalities behind the paintings in new ways
In Carlo Crivelli’s tricksy paintings, nothing is as it seems
The painter employed trompe l’oeil like no artist before or since – and his box of tricks makes for a real treat at Ikon in Birmingham
At home with the Stuarts – Palaces of Revolution by Simon Thurley, reviewed
A new study reminds us that royal palaces were places to live in as well as impressive displays of power
The late, great landscapes of Rubens, reunited at last
A pair of monumental landscapes painted in his later years offer an unusually personal glimpse of the artist himself
‘Leonardo’ is clunky and condescending – so it’s bingeable Renaissance schlock, basically
The Amazon series limps through its art history but is just about salvaged by its endearingly goofy hero
The trials and triumphs of Artemisia Gentileschi
The artist knew exactly how to cultivate her own image, ensuring her great success – both then and now
Baroque stars – the birth of a style in 17th-century Rome
Caravaggio and Bernini are the headliners – but the Rijksmuseum’s show reveals the range of artists who adopted the baroque style
London calling – Orazio Gentileschi’s The Finding of Moses at the court of Charles I
The National Gallery is raising funds to purchase Orazio Gentileschi’s biblical scene – once a prized possession of Queen Henrietta Maria
Friars and bonfires in Renaissance Florence – Botticelli in the Fire, reviewed
What prompted Botticelli to become a follower of Savonarola? Jordan Tannahill’s arresting play casts historical accuracy aside in the quest for answers
In praise of Mary Beale – one of Britain’s first women artists
A biography of one of the country’s earliest professional woman painters is a fitting if belated tribute
A studio of one’s own – Britain’s first women artists
How to succeed as a woman painter in 17th-century England? A supportive husband, royal patronage and mentorship from Van Dyck certainly helped
Behind the curtain – it’s time William Larkin finally got his due
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of the great English court painter, long known only as the ‘Curtain Master’
Voluptuous Venuses and sexy Sebastians – the Renaissance nude at the RA
The rediscovery of classical art in Europe transformed depictions of the naked body
A rare chance to see Van Dyck’s racy portrait of a radical courtier
The marital portrait of George Villiers and Katherine Manners has no parallel in English or Flemish painting
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Command performance – what a lost Artemisia tells us about an English queen
The Royal Collection has found a work from the artist’s London years reveals as much about its patron as about the painter