Grotto fabulous – Marie Antoinette’s decorative dairy was no rustic retreat
The dairy at Rambouillet was a masterpiece of neoclassical design
Rooms of their own – the female collectors who reshaped French society
The collecting of women has often been regarded as mere shopping, but the efforts of both princesses and professional artists are now receiving their rightful dues
‘The roll call of artists who donned a uniform in 1870 is remarkable’
The Franco-Prussian war led to lasting political change and left behind a rich visual record
Acquired taste – the fashion for French interiors in Britain
Dealers played a pivotal role in creating a demand for ancien–régime style across the Channel
Animal instinct – George Stubbs at MK Gallery, reviewed
The painter’s forensic study of his subjects allowed him to portray them with a startling emotional depth
Gustave Courbet’s love of the chase
The painter’s monumental and often melancholy hunting scenes are well worth another look
‘A very Rothschild type of display’ – Waddesdon’s new gallery, reviewed
The new permanent gallery presents all kinds of exquisite pieces with special family associations
Can reconstructing historic collections give us the wrong idea about the past?
Reuniting objects that belonged to important collectors can be a visual treat, but there are some intellectual traps to be avoided
Modern art, with a Belgian flavour
Fernand Khnopff was among the most original artists of the fin-de-siècle – but his dreamlike images are unmistakably Belgian
Picturing poverty in the 19th century
In her final book Linda Nochlin makes a case for painting that looks poverty in the eye
How the French Rothschilds turned their private passions into public gifts
A monumental new study argues that ‘the patronage of the French Rothschild family is a European history of taste’
The man who created ‘dictator chic’
Charles Percier may not be a household name, but his Empire style sums up the Napoleonic era – and has had imitators ever since
It’s time to look again at the golden age of sleaze and splendour
Was the French Second Empire as morally and artistically bankrupt as its critics made it out to be?
Cavorting amid the ruins with Hubert Robert
The Louvre's Hubert Robert exhibition was a revelation
Diary: on Francis Haskell
The enduring intellectual influence of Francis Haskell, the ‘historian’s art historian’ who reshaped the whole discipline.
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‘Notre-Dame’s fortunes have merged with the destiny of France itself’
Over the centuries Notre-Dame de Paris has become much more than a place of worship – it is a symbol of a nation