Renaissance

The bold, brilliant Mary Wroth with a string instrument called a theorbo, circa 1620.

The Secret Codes of Lady Wroth, the First Female English Novelist

The Renaissance noblewoman is little known today, but in her time she was a notorious celebrity

The documentary plays out much like a spy thriller, interrogating the art world and the enigmatic figures who populate it.

Will the Mystery of 'Salvator Mundi' Ever Be Solved?

A new documentary, "The Lost Leonardo," explores the dramatic history of a purported Renaissance masterpiece

The open-air exhibition features more than 20 life-size reproductions of the London museum's most famous paintings.

Pop-Up Exhibition Brings Masterpieces From London's National Gallery Outdoors

An open-air display in Trafalgar Square features more than 20 life-size reproductions of works by Vincent van Gogh, Titian and more

Experts restored the sitter's facial expression to its original state.

Why the Vegetable Seller in This 450-Year-Old Painting Isn't Smiling Anymore

Restoration revealed that a grin had been added to the original—and brought experts closer to identifying the work's creator

The Renaissance artist created the wax figurine as a preparatory model for a larger sculpture.

Fingerprint Found on Renaissance Wax Sculpture May Belong to Michelangelo

Conservators at the V&A in London say fluctuating temperatures, humidity in storage likely revealed the long-hidden imprint

Presumed self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1512, red chalk on paper

Historians Identify 14 Living Relatives of Leonardo da Vinci

An ongoing effort to trace the artist's male lineage may help researchers sequence his genome

Rembrandt's 'Night Watch' is put in place at the Rijksmuseum during 'Operation Night Watch.'

Lost Edges of Rembrandt's 'Night Watch' Are Restored Using Artificial Intelligence

Experts have used new technology to recreate missing portions of the old master painting

Bronzino, Eleonora di Toledo and Francesco de’ Medici, c. 1550

Florence's Medici Family Used Portraits as Propaganda

A new exhibition at the Met reveals how the Italian banking dynasty drew on art to cement its power and legacy

Organizers used state-of-the-art technology to create nearly life-size reproductions of Michelangelo's famed Sistine Chapel frescoes.

Immersive Experience Brings Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Frescoes to the U.S.

A touring exhibition now on view in San Antonio, Chicago and Charlotte immerses visitors in 34 of the artist's famed paintings

Archaeologists unearthed this well-secured wooden box near the melting Lendbreen glacier in Norway.

Melting Glacier in Norway Reveals Remnants of Centuries-Old Beeswax Candle

Carefully preserved in a pine box, the item would have provided light for farmers who traversed the icy alpine pass

The team used bacteria to clean the tomb of Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Nemours (pictured here). Allegorical sculptures of Night and Day flank the marble sarcophagus.

Italian Art Restorers Used Bacteria to Clean Michelangelo Masterpieces

Researchers deployed microbes to remove stains and grime from the marble sculptures in Florence's Medici Chapels

This 1561 portrait depicts Catherine de' Medici standing alongside four of her children, including the newly crowned Charles IX.

Rarely Seen Portrait of Renaissance Queen Catherine de' Medici to Go on View

The 16th-century regent, pictured with four of her children, wielded significant political power during the French Wars of Religion

A new analysis dates the wax bust's creation to the 19th century—some 300 years after Leonardo's death in 1519.

Whale Wax Helps Scholars Solve Mystery of Supposed Leonardo da Vinci Sculpture

Radiocarbon dating places the bust's creation centuries after the Renaissance artist's death in 1519

Workers at the famed Italian museum discovered two long-lost 16th-century frescoes while conducting renovations. Pictured here, a life-sized portrait of Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici depicts the ruler towering over two female figures who act as allegories for the cities of Siena and Florence.

Renaissance-Era Florentine Frescoes Spent Centuries Hidden in Plain Sight

Renovations at the Uffizi Gallery revealed two overlooked paintings of Medici dukes, among other intriguing finds

Scholars are set to undertake a "thorough technical and scientific study" of the painting, which was previously attributed to the circle of Spanish artist José de Ribera.

Baroque Painting Almost Sold for €1,500 May Be a Caravaggio Worth Millions

Spanish authorities halted the sale after identifying "sufficient stylistic and documentary evidence" linking the work to the Old Master

A descendant of art collector John Skippe donated the painting to the parish in 1909.

Forgotten Last Supper Scene Linked to Renaissance Master Titian Spent Century Hidden in Plain Sight

Researchers spotted the artist's signature, among other clues to the 16th-century painting's provenance, on the canvas

Dante Alighieri, as depicted in Luca Signorelli's Orvieto Cathedral fresco

Dante's Descendant Wants to Overturn the Poet's 1302 Corruption Conviction

More than 700 years ago, a magistrate sentenced the "Divine Comedy" author to be burned at the stake if he ever returned to Florence

Two studies, including one conducted by scholars at the Louvre, suggest that Leonardo—or another artist entirely—added Christ's hands and arms to the painting at a later point.

New Research Suggests 'Salvator Mundi' Originally Looked Completely Different

Two separate studies posit that Leonardo da Vinci's initial composition only featured Christ's head and shoulders

Young Man Holding a Roundel is one of just three Sandro Botticelli portraits housed in a private collection.

One of the Last Privately Owned Botticelli Portraits Just Sold for $92 Million

The 15th-century painting, which went up for auction at Sotheby's Thursday, depicts a young Florentine man

A screenshot of the new V&A; digital tool, which allows viewers to explore high-resolution scans of Raphael's cartoons for his Sistine Chapel tapestry sequence. Here, Jesus speaks to Simon in The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (Luke 5: 1-11).

New Online Tool Reveals Raphael's Sistine Chapel Cartoons in Stunning Detail

High-resolution scans from the V&A offer an unprecedented view of the Renaissance drawings, down to every last line and wrinkle

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