Last week, Belgium handed over a list of 84,000 artifacts of Congolese origin to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first step in the process of restitution of objects from the colonial period. The items are held in the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, an institution with one of the largest collections of African objects in the world which was established at the end of the nineteenth century.
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Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) have unearthed the largest Roman mosaic to be found in the city in more than half a century. The discovery was made around a month ago on the building site for a new development in Southwark, just in view of the iconic Shard.
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In the early hours of 7 November 1980, the notorious art thief ‘Erik the Belgian’ stole six Flemish tapestries from a church in northern Spain. Whilst most were recovered later by Interpol, a fragment of one of the tapestries was feared lost until recently.
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Last week, Unit Gallery in London opened a pioneering new exhibition titled ‘Eternalizing Art History: From Da Vinci to Modigliani’, featuring six NFTs from major Italian museums. The objects exhibited are authorized digital copies shown on screens and mounted in handmade replicas of the original frames. The buyer of the works receives both the physical components (the screen, a built-in drive that generates the image, the replica frame and a certificate of authenticity) as well as the digital elements (the NFT and a unique login to the app).
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On Valentine’s Day, Gustav Klimt’s (1862-1918) world-famous ‘The Kiss’ joined the metaverse – a network of 3D virtual worlds. Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna celebrated the day of love by giving art fans the chance to own a non-fungible token (NFT) of the romantic painting.
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A handover ceremony took place last week in an exhibition room dedicated to works of art with uncertain provenance which had been given to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in 1951.
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Australian experts and Scottish authorities have launched an international hunt for a long-lost Renaissance masterpiece, which could be worth up to £13 million. The oil painting was last recorded in an Aberdeenshire town more than 100 years ago, but at the time nobody was truly aware of its importance.
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The last few weeks have witnessed a series of mixed messages emanating from the family of Pablo Picasso, following the initial announcement by his granddaughter Marina and great-grandson Florian that 1,010 NFTs of a never-before-seen ceramic bowl would be released.
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Royal Mail takes a major step into the digital world with a barcoded video of Shaun the Sheep. Established in 1516, the United Kingdom’s postal service has added barcodes to stamps that let people send videos and virtual messages through the post.
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Last week saw Sotheby’s sale of old master paintings bringing in a staggering total of $91 million (with buyer’s fees). Despite this being a considerable sum, it is in fact lower than the equivalent sale last year at Sotheby’s, which made $114.5 million. The auction included the much anticipated sale of Sandro Botticelli’s The Man of Sorrows (circa 1500) which, it was revealed earlier this month through the use of technical analysis, has a hidden composition of a Madonna and Child underneath.
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