Nov / Dec 2017

Volume 28, issue 6 

The myth of the Lionheart

Richard I is celebrated as a warrior-king and great hero, but he relied
on Arthurian legend and the romanticised ballads of troubadors to
embellish his image and enhance his reputation. Sabine Kaufmann

The Great Belzoni

The Italian strongman-turned-archaeologist was a larger-than-life figure
who discovered Seti I’s tomb and brought his sarcophagus to London
where he sold it to Sir John Soane. John H Taylor

Eastern promise

The Kuwaiti princess and art collector Sheikha Hussa Sabah al-Salem
al-Sabah talks about the many stunning, lesser-known, pre-Islamic
objects in the collection she founded with her husband. Dalu Jones

Depicting the Divine

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford brings together powerful images
and sacred artefacts produced by the world’s major religions and shows
how they have inspired both faith and fury. Caroline Bugler

The adventures of Asterix

The plucky little Gaul and his menhir-wielding friend, Obelix, who
have led the resistance against the Romans for 60 years, are being
celebrated in two exhibitions in Paris. Polly Chiapetta

What did the Romans ever do for Gaul?

The reality of the Roman occupation was no laughing matter, but the
battling Gaulish tribesmen might have been wiser to drop their swords
– and magic potions – put on togas and learn Latin. Bijan Omrani

Codebreakers and Groundbreakers

Michael Ventris, who deciphered the Linear B script, and Alan Turing,
who unlocked the Enigma code, are commemorated in an exhibition at
the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Anastasia Christofilopoulou