Arts

Close-up detail from The Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederic William Burton (Credit: National Gallery of Ireland)

The tragedy hidden in a 19th-Century painting

How the devastating meaning of The Meeting on the Turret Stairs is unlocked by a medieval Danish ballad – and why the painting can only be viewed for two hours every week.

Beryl Cook's painting The Lockyer Tavern showing a busy pub, with a woman in the foreground (Credit: Courtesy of www.ourberylcook.com/ John Cook 2025)

Why critics scorned these 'saucy' British paintings

Beryl Cook's paintings were loved by the public but derided by the art establishment. One century after her birth, a new exhibition argues for a reassessment of her work.

Tracey Emin's My Bed (1998) an unmade bed on a blue rug. The bed has white sheets and a pair of tights on the bed, with detritis gathered on the floor and on the bedside table (Credit: Courtesy of The Saatchi Gallery, London)

The messy bed that shocked the art world

In 1999, an artwork of a dishevelled divan strewn with condoms and lager cans sparked a media frenzy and turned artist Tracey Emin into a celebrity. Why? And what happened next?

Spotlight

L. S Lowry's painting 'Going to the Match' (1953). It's a painting of a large square with hundreds of people pouring into a Bunden Park stadium, with the skyline of Bolton in the background (Credit: The Estate of L.S. Lowry)

'An enormous inner desolation': The darkness behind LS Lowry's city scenes

In 1957, the painter showed the BBC how he built up his pictures of industrial urban life from his imagination, and described the loneliness that informed them.

Arts in Motion

In a pioneering new collaboration, the BBC – in partnership with Rolex – celebrates excellence in arts and culture.

Around the world

Minemato no Tametomo on the Isle of Demons (Credit: The Trustees of the British Museum)

The true story of Japan's mysterious samurai

From medieval beginnings, the samurai have inspired art, fiction and films, from Shōgun to Star Wars. But their true story is more complex and surprising than we might realise.

An aerial view of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a futuristic building which looks like two flying saucers

The most anticipated museum openings of 2026

From a futuristic sci-fi attraction in Los Angeles to a dramatic monument to a millennia-old Aboriginal civilisation, these long-awaited museums are worth travelling for.

Black-and-white vintage photo montage of two vehicles colliding and appearing to be thrown upwards out of of the car (Credit: Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)

10 early photographic 'fakes' that trick the eye

Some 150 years before today's AI deep fakes, photographers created remarkable image manipulations that tricked viewers. Here are 10 pictures from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Documentaries

Fake or Fortune

Take Me to the Opera

In Search of the Brontës

Sandringham: A Royal Residence

Venus Uncovered: Ancient Goddess of Love

The Divine Michelangelo

Rick Stein's Taste of Italian Opera

Blenheim: Behind the Grandeur

Art history

Rembrandt's 1632 painting The Anatomy Lessons of Nicholaes Tulp. It depicts the dissection of an executed criminal (Credit: Mauritshuis, The Hague)

The shocking truth behind historic anatomical art

For centuries, real dead bodies inspired great artists and science illustrators alike. A new exhibition reveals the dark stories behind these cadavers – and how they were acquired.

The ancient monuments saluting the winter solstice

Seven of the greatest rivalries in art history

The 'It Girl' style wars of Renaissance Italy

What ancient women really thought about sex

Watch

Inside the completion of Gaudi's Sagrada Famu00edlia

A rare peek at La Sagrada Família's finishing details

A century after Gaudí's passing, his masterpiece La Sagrada Família is reaching its conclusion.

Classical music

Margot the dog listens attentively as a TV behind her can be seen playing a classical piece (Credit: Serenity Strull)

The music that keeps animals calm

You can find many different playlists for dogs and cats online. However, not all styles of music are effective.

Janet Leigh screaming in the shower in Psycho (Credit: Alamy)

How the Psycho music score changed film forever

Alfred Hitchcock's grisly horror might not have become a classic without composer Bernard Herrmann's disturbing score.

A view of the inside of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris with people seated inside the nave during a mass (Credit: Getty Images)

Does Notre-Dame still sound the same?

Performers and visitors to the famous gothic cathedral in the midst of the River Seine may find some subtle differences to the way sound bounces around its walls.

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch holding a photograph of herself when she was younger playing the cello (Credit: Getty Images)

How music saved a cellist's life in Auschwitz

After being sent to the Nazi death camp in 1943, Anita Lasker survived by playing in its women's orchestra. In 1996, she spoke to the BBC about her ordeal.