Sep / Oct 2018

Volume 29, issue 5 

Troy story 

As the "Year of Troy" is celebrated in Turkey, we revisit the site of Homer's legendary city wich, although located in the 1870s, harbours unanswered questions - such as who exactly laid siege to it ? Naoise Mac Sweeney.

From Eden to Empire 

The word of the great Anglo-American painter, Thomas Cole, including his magisterial series depicting the rise and fall of empire - which has a particular resonance today - is on show in London. Dominic Green. 

Graven idols 

An inspiration for artists, poets and anthropoligists, images of the Great Goddess across the world many share similarities, as can be seen in an intriguing exhibition of prehistoric female idols in Venice. Dalu Jones. 

Frozen in time 

A new film is breathing life into Ötzi, the 5000-year-old mummy found in a glacier in the South Tyrol, and the result is a surprisingly convincing drama - despite its deliberately incomprehensible dialogue. David Miles.  

A visionary artist 

It was not only the style and technique of the Italian Renaissance that attracted the eminent Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones - he was also haunted by Classical myths and English folk heroes. Dominic Green. 

Classical buzz 

Traditionally, honey bees symbolise social order and untiring industry but, for the poet Virgil, they also carried a political message - the importance of the collective over the individual - as the Geogics reveal. Lucy Shackleton. 

The romanitas heritage of Nîmes 

Although Nîmes became a solidly Romanised city, many exhibits in its sparkling new museum show that cultural traces of its original Gallic inhabitants persisted long after Rome had fallen. Bijan Omrani.