Art and Antiques

14 of the greatest movie posters in cinema

The right poster can evoke a film without words, stir nostalgia and entice viewers into cinemas.

How 'the best picture in the world' was saved from destruction by a British army officer refused to follow his orders

Claudia Pritchard on the extraordinary tale of how Piero della Francesca’s 1460s fresco 'The Resurrection' was saved.

Dawn Chorus: Santa's sleigh up for sale, the Royal photographs and sketches going on show, plus our Quiz of the Day

Today's Dawn Chorus looks ahead to an exhibition set to delight at Buckingham Palace next year.

Eyes wide shut: The art of sleeping

Sleep takes many shapes in art, whether sensual or drunken, deathly or full of nightmares, but it is rarely peaceful. Even slumbering babies can convey anxiety, discovers Claudia Pritchard.

The grand master 'paintings' that are actually the most exquisite floral photographs you'll ever see

Harald Altmaier’s photographs of floral tableaux, as colossal in effort as in scale, recall 17th-century Dutch still lifes, but the inspiration behind them is far wider, as Carla Passino finds.

The florist-photographer turning vases of flowers into a 21st century Grand Masters

A look at the work of Harald Altmaier, an unusual solution to an imaginary problem, and much more besides in today's Dawn Chorus.

The £3 million Van Dyck painting going under the hammer with a unique buy-one-get-one-free offer

If you've ever dreamed of owning an Anthony van Dyck, now's your chance to pick up two in one go — plus more fun from today's Dawn Chorus.

The Legacy: Hans Sloane and the creation of the British Museum

A curious child who grew into a man of voracious intellectual curiosity, his life of collecting gave birth to one of the nation's great institutions.

Lost and then found: A missing painting by Lord Leighton returns to London

Someone, somewhere, knows something about where it went.

Masterpieces in miniature: Where art and elegance meets the precision of timekeeping

Rare metiers d’art timepieces are more than mere conversation starters. They are a joy to behold and the craftspeople at the top are as sought after as the highest-paid rock stars, explains Nicholas Foulkes.

The £7,500 peacock that brings grace, elegance and beauty... but without the noise and the defecation

Peacocks are beautiful birds — but that doesn't mean they're easy to live with. Unless they're not really peacocks at all...

Opinion: A vanishingly rare thing has happened — we have a minister for culture who actually sounds like he's visited some of the places he has responsibility for

Our culture columnist Athena is cautiously optimistic about the future of arts, culture and architecture — even if the same old problems remain.

The genius inventors who created the world's most important clocks

Early clocks had variable hours, but even in the golden age of British horology, when Thomas Tompion made his masterpieces, a man relying on public timepieces could end his walk earlier than he had started. Huon Mallalieu traces the evolution of British clock-making.

An exhibition that brings together the gun that started the First World War, Hemingway's typewriter, Captain Scott's snow goggle and Sgt Pepper's Drum

The gun used to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Hemingway's typewriter and the drum featured on the cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band are part of Rick Guest's extraordinary collection of photography, Holy Relics at the StART Fair.

'As a child I wanted to snuggle up with the dogs and be part of it': Alexia Robinson chooses her favourite painting

Alexia Robinson, founder of Love British Food, chooses an Edwin Landseer classic.

My Favourite Painting: Geraldine Collinge

Geraldine Collinge, the director of Compton Verney art gallery in Warwickshire, selects Pierre-Jacques Volaire's An Eruption of Vesuvius by Moonlight.

My Favourite Painting: Rachel Podger

Rachel Podger, one of the world's leading violinists who specialises in Baroque music, chooses one of Vincent van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'.

What's for sale on 'the most mouth-watering shopping list in Britain'?

A browse through the summary of works of art and objects of cultural importance with a deferred export license reveals plenty of treasures. What should we keep?

The Pre-Raphaelite painter who swapped 'willowy, nubile women' for stained glass — and created some of the best examples in Britain

The painter Edward Burne-Jones turned from paint to glass for much of his career. James Hughes, director of the Victorian Society, chooses a glass masterpiece by Burne-Jones as his favourite 'painting'.

George Stubbs (1724–1806): Hero of the turf

George Stubbs, born 300 years ago, found Nature superior to art and approached his pictures with the eye of an anatomy scholar, yet no contemporary could rival him in capturing the elegance and character of racehorses, dogs and even zebras, as Jack Watkins discovers.