Category Archives: Heritage

Former head of Louvre charged in Egyptian artefacts trafficking case

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Jean-Luc Martinez is accused of conspiring to hide origin of works taken out of Egypt during Arab spring

The former president of the Louvre museum in Paris has been charged with conspiring to hide the origin of archaeological treasures that may have been taken out of Egypt during the Arab spring uprisings, in a case that has shocked the world of antiquities.

Jean-Luc Martinez was charged this week after he was taken in by police for questioning, a French judicial source told Agence France-Presse. Martinez ran the Paris Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, from 2013-21.

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Birmingham Hockley flyover murals get listed status

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Artworks by sculptor William Mitchell, designed to encourage public interaction, earn Grade-II accolade

A group of concrete murals on a flyover in Birmingham, known as a “brutalist climbing wall”, have been given listed status.

The three-banked mural walls flanking the entrance to the Hockley flyover underpass feature geometric shapes and abstract patterns and were designed by the sculptor William Mitchell to encourage public interaction.

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Roman sculpture up for auction in US linked to disgraced dealer

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Exclusive: researcher calls for sale of marble head of Greek philosopher Antisthenes to be halted

An archaeologist is calling for a US auction house to withdraw a monumental Roman sculpture from sale, claiming he has photographic evidence of its direct link to a dealer involved with illicit trade.

Prof Christos Tsirogiannis, whose academic research focuses on antiquities and trafficking networks, said Hindman Auctions in Chicago should cancel its auction of the portrait head of Antisthenes, the Greek philosopher, scheduled for Thursday.

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Seven centuries of Irish archives painstakingly recreated after being destroyed in civil war

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Digital wizardry and academic sleuthing have helped recreate a cultural treasure severely damaged in the conflict in 1922

In June 1922, the opening battle of Ireland’s civil war destroyed one of Europe’s great archives in a historic calamity that reduced seven centuries of documents and manuscripts to ash and dust.

Once the envy of scholars around the world, the Public Record Office at the Four Courts in Dublin, was a repository of documents dating from medieval times, and packed into a six-storey building by the River Liffey. It was obliterated when troops of the fledgling Irish state bombarded former comrades who were hunkered down at the site as part of a rebellion by hardline republicans against peace with Britain.

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Casket linked to Mary, Queen of Scots bought for nation for £1.8m

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Silver relic will go on public display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh this week

An exquisitely decorated silver casket believed to have played a role in the downfall of Mary, Queen of Scots has been acquired for the nation for £1.8m.

The National Heritage Memorial Fund contributed £810,000 towards the cost of the casket, along with £200,000 from the Scottish government and donations from other organisations and individuals.

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NSW accused of politicising history scheme as Labor seats miss out on first round of blue plaques

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None of 17 markers on buildings where historical figures lived or worked, or where major events occurred, are in Labor-held seats

The New South Wales government has been accused of politicising history after announcing the first 17 successful public applications for the state’s new blue plaque scheme.

The $5m program – announced last June – has been modelled on a similar scheme in use across the UK for more than a century to remember notable people and places.

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Iraq’s ancient buildings are being destroyed by climate change

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Water shortages leading to rising salt concentrations and sandstorms are eroding world’s ancient sites

Some of the world’s most ancient buildings are being destroyed by climate change, as rising concentrations of salt in Iraq eat away at mud brick and more frequent sandstorms erode ancient wonders.

Iraq is known as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that agriculture was born, some of the world’s oldest cities were built, such as the Sumerian capital Ur, and one of the first writing systems was developed – cuneiform. The country has “tens of thousands of sites from the Palaeolithic through Islamic eras”, explained Augusta McMahon, professor of Mesopotamian archaeology at the University of Cambridge.

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At least 53 culturally important sites damaged in Ukraine – Unesco

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True list of casualties of war, which include museums, churches and a Holocaust memorial, likely to be much longer

The UN’s cultural agency has confirmed that at least 53 historical sites, religious buildings and museums have sustained damage during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“This is the latest list, but it is not exhaustive, as our experts are continuing to verify a number of reports” filed by Ukrainian authorities, a Unesco spokesperson told AFP as the body published a list of the 53 damaged sites in the north and east of the country.

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William Morris’s ‘heaven on earth’ Oxfordshire home restored to former glory

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After a £6m renovation project, the pioneering designer’s farmhouse is reopening to the public

For William Morris, the Oxfordshire village of Kelmscott was “heaven on earth”. An old farmhouse became a beloved rural retreat and inspiration for the pioneering designer, author, architectural conservationist and social reformer, widely regarded as the father of the arts and crafts movement.

Now Kelmscott Manor, near Lechlade, is reopening to the public on 1 April following a £6m renovation project, preserving and enhancing it for future generations.

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Historic England puts aerial photos of nation’s past online

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Images of thousands of sites dating from 1919 to the present day made available to view

Ever wondered what your road or area looked like 50 or 100 years ago? Historic England is launching an aerial photography tool that allows users to explore images of England over the past century.

The bird’s eye views range from second world war defences and nuclear power stations to the remains of neolithic monuments, Roman farmsteads and medieval villages.

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‘I owe it to the kids’: coin found by detectorist dad sold for £648,000

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Devon family makes a fortune from 13th-century gold coin discovered thanks to return to an old hobby

A metal detectorist who gave up his hobby when he started a family, only to return to it when his children were old enough to nag him into taking them out detecting with him, has been rewarded with one of the most extraordinary finds – a fine example of England’s oldest gold coin, which has sold for a record-breaking £648,000 at auction.

Michael Leigh-Mallory, 52, found the Henry III gold penny buried 10cm deep on farmland in the Devon village of Hemyock shortly after taking up his old hobby again. Not realising what it was, he posted a picture of the coin on social media, where it was spotted by the auctioneers Spink in London.

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‘Go-to place for film lovers’: Birmingham’s Electric cinema reopens

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Owners want to bring venue up to date while maintaining heritage of cinema that first opened in 1909

In the 112 years since it began, the Electric cinema in Birmingham has lived through the history of film-making. When it first opened its doors in 1909 it showed silent movies with a piano backing, rolling newsreels and cartoons in the 30s, adult films in the 60s, and blockbusters in the 80s.

But the Covid pandemic nearly marked the end of what is believed to be the UK’s oldest working cinema when its owners decided to sell up after more than a year of continuous closure.

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Mystery of the second world war ‘trophy’ and the Royal Court founder

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When George Devine’s family discovered a Japanese battle flag among his belongings, it led to a three-year quest for answers

“I am not a man for soldiering, although I do tolerably well at it in a very minor role. But there is nothing about it that pleases me, and much that offends … It is a corrupter of morals in the widest sense and a gross waste of man’s time and effort.”

These words were written by George Devine, the actor and founding artistic director of the Royal Court theatre, in a letter to his wife from Burma, where he served in the second world war. The views he expressed reflected what his family – and many in the arts world – regarded as his essential humanity and compassion.

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First, a pickled shark. Next up for Damien Hirst, his ‘white elephant’ manor house

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The artist’s £3m Cotswolds pile, which has remained empty and unrenovated since 2005, has been described as an ‘eyesore’

When Damien Hirst bought a historic manor in the Cotswolds he had grand plans. The crumbling 19th-century Toddington Manor, which the world’s richest artist bought for £3m in 2005, would be restored to its former glory, turned into his family home and be a spectacular gallery for his personal art collection.

But years 17 years after its purchase, the property remains uninhabited and covered in scaffolding and tarpaulin. Locals have branded it an “eyesore,” a “white blob” and “a blight on the countryside”.

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Trinity College Dublin begins €90m project to relocate vulnerable books

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Restoring and moving 750,000 volumes and ancient manuscripts expected to take five years

It is known as Ireland’s “front room”, where esteemed visitors including the Queen, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been taken to get a sense of the “land of saints and scholars”.

Biden, vice-president at the time, was so moved by the atmospherics in the dimly lit, barrel-vaulted hall when he visited Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in 2016 that he came back a year later to contemplate the history of its old library, known as the Long Room.

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Minister vows to close ‘loophole’ after court clears Colston statue topplers

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Grant Shapps leads calls to change law limiting prosecution of people who damage memorials

Britain is not a country where “destroying public property can ever be acceptable”, a cabinet minister has said, as Conservative MPs vented their frustration at four people being cleared of tearing down a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said the law would be changed to close a “potential loophole” limiting the prosecution of people who damage memorials as part of the police, crime, sentencing and courts (PCSC) bill.

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Italy returns Parthenon fragment to Greece amid UK row over marbles

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Loan deal could renew pressure on Britain to repatriate ancient Parthenon marbles to Athens

Italy is returning a fragment belonging to the Parthenon’s eastern frieze to Greece in a breakthrough deal that could renew pressure on Britain to repatriate the 2,500-year-old Parthenon marbles removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century.

The marble fragment, which depicts the foot of a goddess, either Peitho or Artemis, peeking out from beneath an elaborate tunic, is currently held at the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo, Sicily. It was originally bought by the University of Palermo from the widow of Robert Fagan, the British consul for Sicily and Malta, after his death in 1816.

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Restored Big Ben to bong again at midnight to bring in new year

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Clock face revealed for first time since 2017 to show conservation work and restoration of original colour scheme

London’s public fireworks display may be cancelled but new year revellers in Westminster will be treated to a view of Big Ben’s newly painted dials as the clock bongs 12 times to mark the end of 2021.

The 96-metre clock tower above the Houses of Parliament, which houses the Great Bell, known as Big Ben, has been mostly hidden from view since a £79.7m conservation projection began four years ago.

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New head of Unesco world heritage centre wants to put Africa on the map

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Lazare Eloundou Assomo wants to address imbalance that benefits rich nations and protect sites threatened by climate crisis and war

It covers 9 million sq miles (24m sq km) from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and from the Sahara in the north to Cape Point in the south. And in between lie some of the world’s most ancient cultural sites and precious natural wonders.

However, despite its vast size, sub-Saharan Africa has never been proportionately represented on Unesco’s world heritage list, its 98 sites dwarfed by Europe, North America and Asia.

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