In August 2020, some 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate carelessly stored in Beirut’s ancient port suddenly exploded. The blast, one of the worst in world history, released a fireball miles into the air. In the briefest of moments before the whiteout, it was possible to see silver sparks flying – fireworks, lethally stored in the same depot – through
The secrets of Rembrandt’s painting technique on The Night Watch remain lost to time for now. But researchers tasked with solving the mystery believe they may at least have gleaned some clues as to the perfect recipe for wall filler.
Scientists at AkzoNobel, the Dutch owners of Dulux paints, have been working since 2019 with conservators at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so busy!” declares my dad as we pull into the car park of Housesteads, which sits along Hadrian’s Wall, one of the best-preserved Roman forts in Britain. He’s right: the car park is rammed and the entrance to the site is unusually crowded: tourists with backpacks sit on picnic benches eating cake from
It has been described as the “sale of the century”, an auction of more than 1,300 pieces of 17th to 20th-century furniture, art, jewels and interior decoration from one of Paris’s grandest mansions.
