Articles

On 1 February, with the erection of scaffolding in the Sistine Chapel, the extraordinary maintenance of the Last Judgement began: for approximately three months, Michelangelo’s supreme masterpiece will undergo a cleaning procedure.

Sotheby’s staged its second auction in Saudi Arabia — almost one year to the day after history was made with the first-ever auction in the Kingdom.

The National Trust has been able to secure land surrounding the iconic Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, protecting this cherished landscape for nature, heritage and future generations.

President Trump abruptly announced on TruthSocial plans to close the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for two years to create what he said "can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World."

The Nederlands Fotomuseum appointed Zippora Elders Tahalele as its new General & Artistic Director, effective 13 April 2026. 

The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) announced the appointment of Manuel Rabaté as its Chief Executive Officer and Director.

The world-famous sculpture Sleeping Hermaphroditus, from the collection of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, will go on display at the Rijksmuseum from 6 February, as part of the Metamorphoses exhibition.

A restoration project in Rome’s San Lorenzo in Lucina basilica has sparked a political firestorm after a newly revealed fresco was found to bear a resemblance to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Yale University Library has announced the transfer of a liturgical manuscript known as the Cistercian Collectar (Beinecke MS 883), from the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library to the Republic of Poland. 

An export bar has been placed on Anne Damer’s 18th-century ‘Shock Dog’ sculpture in an effort to protect this rare surviving terracotta model. 

Galleries in Spain will close their doors from February 2nd to 7th, a pressure tactic to demand a reduction in the VAT, currently at 21%, a percentage that puts them at a clear disadvantage compared to their European counterparts.

Pakistan’s Ministry of National Heritage and Culture has announced that Faiza Butt will represent the country at the 61st Venice Biennale, marking its second participation following the inaugural pavilion in 2019.

The French crown jewels stolen from the Louvre in October were filmed in an underground garage in Paris an hour after the robbery, according to BFMTV, which obtained the CCTV footage.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art announced its plans to return three sculptures to the Government of India, following rigorous provenance research that documented that the sculptures had been removed illegally from temple settings. 

The long-awaited KANAL – Centre Pompidou has officially announced its opening date: 28 November 2026.

In an era where visibility is often mistaken for value, Common Ground (Kortrijk), asserts that the most vital artistic truths often reside in the quiet.

Over the past two years, the Institute for Art and Law (IAL) has been working closely with the Oxford Uehiro Institute on a tool to help museums with moral decision making on questions of restitution. 

One of the most important sculpture acquisitions in the history of the Städel Museum, Gothic Madonna returns to the Altenberg Altar in the Städel.

Residents of Vlkolínec, a village in Slovakia, have called for its Unesco World Heritage status to be revoked after an overwhelming influx of tourists.

Tate announced that Tarek Atoui will create the next annual Hyundai Commission.