"The painted angels ... once were among the defining features of Old North Church when they were painted around 1730. But officials at the church … painted over the angels in 1912 with thick coats of white paint, part of an austere renovation that restorationists are trying to reverse." - AP
The thieves used the basement of a condo building as their excavation site, tunneling 26 feet under the city to find thousands of ancient and medieval objects for the black market and even the remains of an 11th-century church. Here's how Italy's crackerjack art police caught the villains. - The Guardian
Here's a look at 12 exciting architecture projects expected to open in 2025, including a giant domed skyspace and an earth-covered sports complex. - Dezeen
2024 was peppered with lawsuits, auction records, and disappointing performances, more than a few gallery closings, and a lot of hot air forecasting that the art market was near the end. The art market, perhaps even more than, say, the stock market, is a fragile mechanism. - ARTnews
"Although El Escorial is hardly an unknown destination — it received more than 450,000 visitors last year — Pérez de Prada and his colleagues are keen to offer people a fresh perspective, literally and metaphorically." - The Guardian
A pan-European forgery network, a disputed Malevich at the Pompidou Center, supposed Monet and Renoir on eBay, yet more fake Basquiats, and the bogus Picassos in Tasmania that went undetected for over three years. - ARTnews
From sexy frescoes emerging from the ashes to hidden cities surfacing due to Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scans, archaeologists continue to make discoveries that transform our understanding of the past and how best to preserve it for the future. - Hyperallergic
"As we close out the year, we’ve rounded up the artworks that left us unimpressed — pieces that didn’t live up to the hype, ideas that fell flat, or works misplaced in their context." - Artnet
"Lebanese cultural preservation organisation Biladi said at least nine heritage sites were completely destroyed and 15 badly or partially damaged by Israeli attacks between September … and a ceasefire in November. But archaeological experts also say bomb blasts close to important sites … may have caused 'invisible damage'." - Financial Times
“Until John Thorpe, rooms in the great houses of England used to lead on, one from another, all grouped around a central entrance hall, and while some buildings had monastery-style external covered cloisters bordering central courtyards, these were always too nippy for a northern climate.” - The Observer (UK)
Sacre bleu! What is happening? A French artist won "a competition to replace the existing six windows installed by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in 1844 – even though the windows were not damaged in the 2019 fire.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Choir singers have lived in two handsome terraces of silvery-pink-stoned medieval houses beside Wells Cathedral for more than 650 years. But the gated close – which is thought to be the most complete and continuously occupied medieval street in Europe – is now in desperate need.” - The Observer (UK)
