'The house is full of images of him. However, the story ends sadly – he died at the age of 11, in 1922.'
Art and Antiques
Curious Quesions: Is there any future for Encyclopedia Britannica?
Once the first set of books required in any home library, encyclopedias have long since been superseded by the internet. But rather extraordinarily there is still a market for them,…
In Focus: A silent cellist, blazing with pleasure, by Klimt’s great young protégé Schiele
When he first came on to the Vienna art scene, Egon Schiele hero-worshipped Gustav Klimt. Once they met the two became friends, forming a bond and inspiring each other's work,…
How Country Life helped track down a lost masterpiece by Gainsborough
Five years of fruitless searching had left the National Portrait Gallery almost abandoning hope of finding a lost Gainsborough painting, but the letters page of Country Life came to the…
My Favourite Painting: Rupert Soames, grandson of Winston Churchill
Rupert Soames chooses one of Winston Churchill's paintings: a joyous portrait of his grandmother by his grandfather.
The stained-glass maker: ‘It’s powerful, volatile… too overwhelming for domestic settings’
Thomas Denny is one of the few people left in Britain making stained glass for churches. He spoke to Mary Miers.
In Focus: The many lives of Landseer’s ‘The Monarch of the Glen’, the eternal symbol of Scotland
The most famous of Victorian paintings took on a life of its own as a marketing icon, romantic symbol of Scottish identity and inspiration for numerous other artists in a…
My Favourite Painting: Maria Speake
Architectural designer and salvage pioneer Maria Speake chooses an image that speaks to her Danish roots.
Six of Britain’s finest art and building conservationists on history, technology and the secrets of their trades
It takes a huge amount of skill and technical expertise to restore historic objects and interiors. John Goodall speaks to six specialists about their work and its challenges.
In Focus: Hockney, Banksy and the battle of ‘fine art’ vs ‘a stencilled publicity stunt’
David Hockney's evocative 1972 masterpiece Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) set a record for a living artist last week, immediately sparking debate given the recent farrago surrounding…
My favourite painting: Lady Sarah Chatto
‘I find the colours and the drawing of the Italian landscape inspirational and each time I stand and contemplate this painting, I discover something new about it.’
The utterly royal shopping list, from beautiful winter flowers to hand-made suits that defy disposable culture
For one week only we've transformed our regular utterly inessential shopping list into an utterly royal shopping list, to coincide with the Prince of Wales guest editing Country Life.
In Focus: The Spanish painter whose visceral depictions of martyrdom still have the power to shock
The unflinching representations of brutality in Jusepe de Ribera's images of martyrdom is the focus of a new exhibition, the first in the UK focusing solely on this Baroque painter.…
My Favourite Painting: Pierre Lagrange
Michael Hall chooses Tiepolo's An Allegory with Venus and Time.
The unique and extraordinary images of the First World War created by Britain’s first-ever official war artist
In the Spring of 1916, Charles Masterman, head of the British War Propaganda Bureau, acting on the advice of artist William Rothenstein, appointed Muirhead Bone as Britain’s first official war artist. Bone…
In Focus: The trench cello which brought the joy of music to the First World War
The men who spent years in the trenches of France and Belgium found all manner of ways to bring a touch of joy and culture into their lives – not least…
My favourite painting: Michael Hall
An Allegory with Venus and Time, 1754, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770), 115in by 75in, National Gallery, London Michael Hall chooses An Allegory with Venus and Time ‘I read Michael…
The poppy maker: ‘I was very weak, very emotional and in a bad place when I started, but I’m back to my old self again now’
Wish Lloyd battled a traumatic childhood, the army, an athletics injury and homelessness to find his place at the Poppy Factory, making the poppies we wear every November.
In Focus: The women who defied their husbands – among them England’s richest men – to care for abandoned children
A fascinating exhibition at the Foundling Museum focuses on the women who refused to countenance the prejudices of the time, and in so doing established Britain's first children's charity. Lilias…
My favourite painting: Adam Zamoyski
'One look at the picture evokes the stiff-terrier-legged, rat-murdering, wild-boar-defying bravery and the heart-melting sweetness of the little thing that brings so much joy to our lives.'