An early Roman figure carved from wood was unearthed as part of archaeological research accompanying the construction of a new rail line between London and Birmingham, England. According to a press release from HS2, as the high-speed railway is known, the figure was dug up in July from a ditch whose water-logged and thus oxygen-deprived clay preserved the wood and kept it from rotting. ...
The ground in Northamptonshire, England, has been hiding the remains of an affluent Roman trading town for more than 1,700 years, according to findings from archaeologists working in the area. As reported in the Guardian, the discoveries have included an old road, buildings for different kinds of life and work, hundreds of coins, and four water wells used in a once-prosperous town “whose inhabitants ...
To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. The Headlines HANG ON TO YOUR (BOWLER) HATS. A 1961 René Magritte painting is set to hit the block at Sotheby’s London in March with an estimate in excess of £45 million (about $60 million), Angelica Villa reports in ARTnews. Backed with a guarantee, it is positioned to trounce the artist’s previous auction record of $26.8 million, which was set in 2018 , also ...
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has acquired a marble bust from the first century related to the Roman ritual surrounding the first shaving of a young man’s beard. The portrait of Roman general Germanicus, the adopted son of Tiberius and later the father of Caligula, shows the young buck before the time of his depositio barbae, the term for a boy’s first trip ...
To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. The Headlines ON WEDNESDAY, Germany’s new coalition government announced plans to bolster the nation’s efforts to restitute Nazi-looted art, Catherine Hickley reports in the Art Newspaper. Proposals from the administration include eliminating the statute of limitations on claims, and establishing a central court to adjudicate cases. Also on Wednesday, the last of 14 works ...
An archaeological site in northern Israel is now thought to possibly contain a lost Roman temple. The temple, which was housed within a larger ancient Roman complex, would have been built by King Herod, who presided over the province of Judea for 33 years, between 37 B.C.E. and 4 B.C.E. The structure is located within Omrit, an archeological site that is also home to ...
To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. The Headlines MONDAY CRIME BLOTTER. Italian authorities confiscated three looted artifacts that date back more than 2,300 years and returned them to Mexico, Reuters reports. Some people close Christian Rosa, the artist accused of hawking forged Raymond Pettibons, say he may be hiding out from federal charges in Portugal, according to Vanity Fair . Thieves made off with more than 40 prized bottles of wine from ...
Always wanted to live like a Renaissance cardinal? Who doesn’t? The palazzos, the artwork, the scheming, the alchemy. If you happen to be a billionaire and feel like blowing a mountain of money on just one pretty incredible Renaissance-era house, you’re in luck. The Casino di Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi in Rome, otherwise known as Villa Aurora and Casino Del Monte, is going to be auctioned ...
To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. The Headlines THE GREAT BEAUTY. What is better than a 16th-century villa in central Rome? A 16th-century villa in central Rome that features the only known ceiling mural by Caravaggio. That treasure is set to come to auction in January with an opening bid of €471 million (about $546.3 million), the Guardian reports. The structure was built by an Italian ...
To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. The Headlines A STELLAR DAY FOR ARCHAEOLOGY: A trove of roughly 1,600-year-old Roman gold coins has been discovered in the waters off Xàbia, on Spain’s eastern coast, CNN reports. Totaling about 50 coins, it is being described as one of the largest finds of the kind ever made in Europe. The windfall came after two eagle-eyed amateur ...
