Freud never said that sometimes a cigar is only a cigar, but whoever did so was right. Can an image with considerable iconic suggestiveness be only itself? Can a goldfinch be only a bird? The famous ...

On the morning of October 12th 1654, the Dutch city of Delft was ravaged. A cache of munitions had been carelessly stored; a spark was ignited. The explosion razed the city centre to the ground. Whole ...

Some historical figures achieve fame and fortune in life. Others owe their success thanks to their untimely deaths. Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt's most promising pupil, falls somewhere in between the ...