Between 50 and 20 B.C., in the late Republic, early Imperial period, a man named Eurysaces built a tomb outside the eastern boundary of Rome. Part of what is today called the Porta Maggiore after the nearby Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Two inscriptions identify the tomb’s owner. The complete one says: EST HOC MONIMENTUM […]
Archaeologists have uncovered the largest collection of 16th-17th century fabrics and footwear in Europe at a construction site in Toruń, Poland. The collection includes entire shoes in both eastern and western styles, fragments of pleated dresses, neckline trim, woolen stockings, very expensive gold cloth and silk. Toruń was one of the most important cities in
The UK’s Arts Minister has placed a temporary export bar on a rare 12th century walrus ivory carving of the Deposition from the Cross to give local institutions the opportunity to raise the £2,006,595 (plus VAT of £40,131.90) necessary to acquire it for the nation. It was bought by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
A pair of 15th century frescoes in the church of San Martino in the Ligurian hamlet of Rocchetta Cairo have been restored. The frescoes, which depict the Madonna Enthroned and the Egyptian 4th century ascetic Saint Anthony the Abbot, were made by two different artists in the first half of the 15th century on a
The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo has acquired a rare work by Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes (1639-40). Donated to the museum by philanthropic the DNB Savings Bank Foundation, it is one of very few paintings by the Baroque master that is unambiguous in its
A long section of an intricately carved wooden frieze looted from the Alhambra Palace in Granada has been returned by the descendants of the man who looted it 187 years ago. The panel is 7’5″ long and was part of the ornamental ceiling frieze in the main room of the Partal Palace. It was taken by
Nero was so closely associated with his insanely huge Golden Palace on the Oppian Hill that his previous abode, the Domus Transitoria, was entirely eclipsed by its successor. It was called the Transit House because it extended from the Esquiline to the Palatine so the imperial family could move from one hill to the other
A treasure in coins associated with the notorious conman hermit Anthony Jaczewicz have been discovered in the Jeleniowskie mountain range of south-central Poland. The Świętokrzyska Exploration Group (ŚGE), a group of local metal detectorists searching by consent of the Świętokrzyskie Provincial Monument Conservator, set out seeking traces of the legendary hermit’s treasure in June 2022.
An excavation of Bispevika, a neighborhood in Oslo that was once part of the city’s harbour, has uncovered the remains of a rare medieval iron gauntlet. Archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) found the piece of armature with a metal detector, but only a fragment of metal actually survives. Most of
London’s National Gallery recently moved a monumental altarpiece by Renaissance master Filippino Lippi. It is 6’8″ high, 6’1″ wide and weighs 526 pounds, so this was no easy feat. The team captured it on video to give people a glimpse of the complex systems and technologies requires to handle fragile works of this scale. The
