In the 1500s, Japan was fought over by hundreds of rival warlords. They battled for territory and power, resulting in a century of near-constant war, until the Tokugawa shoguns won a decisive victory

So Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in October 1876, charting the latest instalment of the Holbein cult. He was renting a room in Isleworth, west London, still hoping for a religious career

John Piper was a modernist who rejected Modernism, a versatile artist who defied categories, but one who remained true to the spirit and detail of the places he painted

The week’s guide to what’s worth seeing Showing ...

Inspired ideas and buys for the great outdoors

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