Fyodor Uspensky History of the Byzantine Empire Translated and edited by Dean Marais Five volumes; 1,852pp. Based. Paperback, £92.05. James Howard-Johnston Byzantium Economy, society, institutions 600

In Caravaggio’s “St Matthew and the Angel” (1602), the Bible seems to arrive as a shock to those who wrote it. Matthew, bare-armed and dirty-toed, is a fisherman stranded on dry land. Everything about

Europe’s frozen northeast became a new sacred frontier of holy war, forced conversion and occupation against Europe’s last pagans

There’s no shortage of great picks at this year’s TEFAF Maastricht, the Netherlands, including a Barbara Hepworth sculpture, a pastel portrait by Dora Maar and two sections of 4th-century Roman mosaics

Quiz of the week 1) Which Shakespeare play ...

Estimate in excess of £20,000,000 Ӏ Sold £22,895,000 Fabergé Easter eggs made for Russia’s Imperial family, the Romanovs, are as rare as hens’ teeth. With only 50 produced between 1885 and 1916, the m