The black prince of florence

“Hands of Saint Dominic” by Albrecht Dürer, 1506; ...

In her latest novel, Sarah Dunant explores the life of Italian aristocrat Isabella d’Este, the archetypal Renaissance woman

Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua, bargained, cajoled and went behind her family’s back to get what she desired. Meet 16th-century Italy’s most formidable collector

Life’s pleasures immortalized in a marble sculpture

In the early 1890s a young Victor Goddet was working at the Vélodrome de l’Est, Paris. Every day a twenty-something rider arrived and every day Goddet studiously checked his pass. One day the rider qu

Rich, resourceful and ruthless, the Venetians left handsome imprints across the Greek world, says Matthew Dennison , as he explores the lingering traces of a vanished empire