NewsThe Year in Review 2019
From trafficked treasures to the ravages of climate change: the heritage headlines of 2019
We look back at the biggest stories of the year
NewsConservation & Preservation
Derelict iron flaxmill is brought back to life in Shrewsbury
Building was considered an audacious architectural experiment when it was built in 1797
NewsConservation & Preservation
Castle opening crowns £150m revival of Bishop Auckland
Millionaire Jonathan Ruffer’s ambitious regeneration of a small former mining town in northern England reveals 1,000 years of history and art
NewsClimate Change
Cultural heritage experts rally in Edinburgh to find solutions to climate crisis
Supporters of new international Climate Heritage Network argue that the sector has a “moral duty” to act
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Southampton's new art space takes over tower of 700-year-old city gateway
Exhibition venue and heritage attraction inside Grade I-listed monument God's House Tower is called GHT
AnalysisCathedral of Notre Dame
Inside Notre Dame: a blow-by-blow account of the restoration process
Five months on we look at the steps and measurements implemented by experts to start rebuilding the fire-ravaged cathedral
CommentRestitution
Icom Kyoto 2019 conference: key takeaways from the decolonisation and restitution panel
Discussion argued for community empowerment, new skillsets, and focus on contemporary colonialism
NewsHeritage
Artists demand rethink in rebuilding of Potsdam church where Hitler cemented power
Open letter describes the Garrison Church, damaged in the Second World War, as the symbol of an “unholy alliance” between church, military, and state
NewsConservation & Preservation
New York Public Library shores up its marble lions
Two-month conservation effort for the sculptures follows a public appeal to donors
News US politics
African American leaders object to erasure of controversial school mural in San Francisco
Local figures defend portrayal of the nation’s blemished early history
NewsConservation & Preservation
British Library shares conservation experts with Palestinian Museum
New partnership will preserve the Birzeit museum’s most ‘at-risk’ objects on paper
ReviewConservation & Preservation
Quarries, quarrels and a lesbian affair: the life of sculptor Mary Spencer Watson
The Dorset farmhouse in which she lived with her father, the portrait painter George Spencer Watson, has been recently restored by the Landmark Trust
NewsHeritage
Gaudi’s Sagrada Família secures building permit—137 years later
A deal between the city and the church foundation aims to complete construction work on the architect’s quixotic final project
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Former Louvre director donates his collection to forthcoming museum devoted to the 'Sun King'
Pierre Rosenberg has pledged his collection of works by Charles Le Brun and other artists to the new museum
ReviewBooks
What was the real purpose of the English country house library?
Mark Purcell's study explores 19th-century bibliomania and rejects the notion that books in historic libraries were "bought by the yard"
NewsHeritage
Planned cable car attraction over Belgrade historic fortress ‘should be suspended’
Kalemegdan served as a military site for the Roman Empire and is a candidate for Unesco World Heritage status
NewsExhibitions
Exhibition resurrects East Germany's demolished Palast der Republik
Kunsthalle Rostock, the only museum built under the GDR, remembers Berlin's asbestos-riddled parliament building and culture hub
NewsHeritage
Anti-Semitic 'Jewish Sow' relief may be removed from Luther’s church
Medieval sculpture on façade of Unesco World Heritage site in Wittenberg is one of around 30 similar pieces across Europe
ReviewBooks
Book review | Recent archaeological finds on Keros bring new authoritative scholarship on Cycladic art
Excavation campaigns on the Greek island have raised questions about our knowledge of Cycladic art and culture
NewsHeritage
Opposition flares as Peru’s government makes way for airport near Machu Picchu
A petition has been launched to prevent the Peruvian government from continuing the project
NewsArchitecture
Nazi site in Nuremberg to be preserved but not restored
German city launches €85m plan to prevent further decay of infamous rally grounds
NewsHeritage
Exhibition of Gormley’s figures repopulates a Greek island’s ancient ruins
Life-size "bodyforms" are positioned amid ancient grottoes, agoras and sculptures
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Notre Dame: experts explain why Macron's five-year restoration deadline is impossible
Complex conservation issues mean it could easily take a decade or more to rebuild the Medieval cathedral
NewsHeritage
Sri Lankan government steps in to rebuild St Anthony’s church after bomb attacks
Crowdfunding campaigns have also launched to support victims and restore heritage sites after deadly blasts
CommentCathedral of Notre Dame
In Notre Dame, we find a heritage that invites us to breathe and reflect
A spire competition is the wrong approach
CommentCathedral of Notre Dame
Around the world, the Notre Dame fire inspires sadness, solidarity and anger
The Art Newspaper network, which includes the Giornale dell’Arte, The Art Newspaper France, The Art Newspaper Russia, and The Art Newspaper China, has gathered together comments from three continents
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Britain’s historic house owners pledge ancient trees for Notre Dame rebuilding
The cathedral’s roof, wholly destroyed in the fire, was built of some 1300 great trees
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Nearly €1bn raised for Notre-Dame over two days
Several charitable and crowdfunding campaigns launched since the fire
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Precious works rescued from Notre Dame to be transferred to the Louvre
Crown of Thorns and St Louis tunic are among the artefacts to have been saved, while paintings inside the cathedral will be removed and restored
NewsCathedral of Notre Dame
Trump’s tweets on Notre Dame blaze fall foul of French fire officials
US President proposed water bombing the cathedral but this risks weakening the structure, say experts
AnalysisFrom the archive
Church and State disagree over management of religious heritage in France
The country possesses more than 32,000 churches, 6,000 chapels and 87 cathedrals. Their dual administration has caused serious problems of management and conservation
NewsConservation & Preservation
Fragile inheritance: US museums bridge skills gap in conservation of Chinese paintings
Philanthropic funding assures new training for the next generation of masters to emerge
PreviewExhibitions
St. Louis show sniffs out why Egyptians smashed noses
Exhibition at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation explores how Pharaohs and Christians alike went in for vandalising and “killing” icons
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Greenwich's Painted Hall reopens with day beds for visitors to admire 'England's Sistine Chapel'
Two-year restoration of James Thornhill's dizzying Baroque interior was the largest open-access conservation project in Europe
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Discoveries under the floorboards of Van Gogh’s bedroom in Brixton
Mysterious papers were found during the restoration of the south London house in Hackford Road where the Dutchman lodged
NewsOpenings
Lost features of John Soane’s dream country home Pitzhanger Manor restored
Architects, conservation experts and paint archaeologists have collaborated on £12m project to reopen west London house
NewsMcMullen Museum of Art
Boston College mascot identified as Meiji bronze
The monumental bronze eagle was donated in 1954 by a gardener who inherited it from a diplomat and collector
NewsSyria
Berlin's Pergamonmuseum reveals the crowdsourced archive preserving Syria's war-torn heritage
New exhibition presents documents that lay the foundations for reconstruction of Aleppo and other sites ruined by civil war
NewsGrimani
Grimani antiquities collection comes home to Venice palazzo after four centuries
Cardinal Grimani’s classical Greek and Roman sculptures—given to the Venetian Republic in 1587—will be reassembled in theatrical palace gallery
NewsAncient Egypt
King Tutankhamun’s treasures come to London's Saatchi Gallery before returning to Egypt forever
150 ancient artefacts will be displayed in a major exhibition commemorating the centenary of the discovery of the pharaoh’s tomb
AnalysisRembrandt
Trimmed, splashed and slashed: the anatomy of Rembrandt's The Night Watch
As the Rijksmuseum prepares to restore the Dutch master’s most-celebrated painting in full view of the public, we look at its chequered conservation history
PreviewExhibitions
Botticelli’s violent stories have a contemporary resonance in #MeToo era
“Spalliera” panels depicting parables are reunited at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for the first time in 500 years
FeatureLost art
Lost art: should we rebuild sacked castles and ruined palaces?
Noah Charney examines how historic buildings that were needlessly destroyed can live on today
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
San Francisco’s Van Gogh is the real deal
The still life of fruit and chestnuts, until recently dismissed as a fake, was painted in Paris
NewsMuseums & Heritage
New York architect Annabelle Selldorf to lead design of visitors centre in Beijing’s Forbidden City
When restoration is complete, the public will have access to Qianlong Garden complex for the first time
BlogIn the frame
Should a modern extension be tacked on to a 15th-century architectural masterpiece?
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Dresden ballroom returns to gilded glory as part of €300m palace reconstruction
Residential Palace complex, a casualty of Allied bombing in the Second World War, is due to be rebuilt by 2021
NewsAfrican art
Africa’s pre-colonial ‘crown jewels’ to find a home in new South African museum
Javett Art Centre at University of Pretoria will display 800-year-old gold collection excavated in the 1930s
NewsHeritage
Aliph, the global fund to protect cultural heritage, announces its first projects in Iraq and Mali
Launched in 2016, Aliph will finance restoration work with technical support from the Louvre and Smithsonian Institution
NewsHeritage
Lush historic gardens bloom once more in Agra, India
The World Monuments Fund announces the completion of a four-year conservation effort
NewsConservation & Preservation
Cai Guo-Qiang’s explosive art, preserved for the ages
Getty scientists explore the artist’s use of gunpowder and other materials for a definitive new book
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Herculaneum’s museum of relics finally opens its doors, 44 years on
Inaugural show presents jewels and precious objects excavated in the early 20th century alongside more recent discoveries
NewsConservation & Preservation
Restoration for early Renaissance pulpit will get the big-screen treatment
The 1301 carved pulpit will undergo a two-year intensive monitoring programme
NewsHeritage
Restorers of Nîmes arena expand their sights
Conservation effort now includes passageways and interior
NewsHeritage
How pioneering climate-change science dated one of Britain's oldest houses
Landmark Trust's restoration finds that oak timber used to build Welsh house was felled in the winters of 1418-19 and 1420-21
AnalysisThe Year In Review
The year in heritage: conservators become art
The conservation of masterpieces is happening in the full glare of the public
NewsUnesco
Goodbye Venice, goodbye Ravenna, goodbye Ferrara, goodbye Carthage?
Many World Heritage Sites around the Mediterranean are at grave risk from sea-level rise by 2100, report says
NewsAlbrecht Dürer
Dürer used his famous Praying Hands drawing to advertise his talent
Chief curator of Vienna’s Albertina argues that the work, which shows the artist's own hands, was a finished work rather than preparatory drawing
NewsArchitecture
California wildfires threaten architectural landmarks and historic sites
The 19th century Sepulveda Adobe and western movie set Paramount Ranch have been destroyed, but the fate of many other buildings remain unknown
NewsConservation & Preservation
Restoration of rare English Medieval altarpiece reveals a history of serial vandalism
The Battel Hall retable, which survived the fury of 16th-century iconoclasts, bears later scars of graffiti and "witchmarks" against evil spirits
NewsHeritage
Looted vessels returned at event marking 15 years of US-Italy art crime fighting co-operation
Italian official also says the country will ratify 2017 Nicosia Convention outlining penalties for offenses involving cultural heritage
NewsHeritage
Long-lost Tudor tapestry could be saved for the UK
Work commissioned by Henry VIII for Hampton Court Palace left the country in the early 1970s
CommentLaw
Cultural 'matrimony' could resolve heritage disputes
We need to rethink our perceptions of an artist or an artefact as having a single, unified or homogenous heritage
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Top museum directors on the challenges of climate change and mass tourism
Vatican conference on preventive conservation warns of environmental impact of short-term politics
NewsCrime
Police arrest man after attempted theft of Magna Carta at Salisbury Cathedral
Incident is a further blow to English city following the novichok poisonings earlier this year
NewsConservation & Preservation
Alaskan dancer helps the Met solve riddle of the Yup’ik mask
Conservator calls in master storyteller to decipher shamanic object
NewsRestoration
Urgent revamp of William Morris’s country home to go ahead after £4.3m grant
UK National Lottery award will also fund a new education centre at the Victorian designer’s 16th-century Kelmscott Manor
NewsHeritage
Chunks of British Parliament go on sale
Historic Pugin floor tiles, on which many a prime minister has trodden, available for £200 a piece
PreviewVenice Glass Week
Venice rallies to save its ancient glass-blowing industry from Chinese competition
Venice Glass Week is a city-wide collaboration between museums, commercial galleries and artisans of Murano
NewsOld Masters
Heading home: early Rubens masterpiece returns to the artist's Antwerp studio for the first time
The work, lent by Art Gallery of Ontario ahead of a major travelling show on the artist, will undergo research at the Rubenshuis
NewsArtists
Art installation in Canada helps rebuild burnt-out library in Iraq
A project at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto challenges the public to help restore a Baghdad art college’s collection
CommentRedevelopment
'A catastrophe for the system of protecting historic buildings': the saga of London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Plans to turn the foundry that cast the bells of Big Ben, St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey into a boutique hotel have been put on hold—but they should never have gone ahead in the first place
Charles Saumarez Smith