"Experts at the National Galleries of Scotland made the find when the canvas was X-rayed before an exhibition. The hidden self-portrait was covered by layers of glue and cardboard on the back of an earlier work called Head of a Peasant Woman." - BBC
The new law comes within a suite of rules intended to give the police more power over protesters. "Anyone caught damaging a memorial in the U.K. could now face harsh penalties of up to 10 years in prison." A specialist in art law says it's a "political judgement." - Artnet
Mind you, these aren't the Benin Bronzes, which come from what's now southwestern Nigeria. These were taken by French colonial soldiers in the late 19th century from the Kingdom of Dahomey, now part of the Republic of Benin, to which France has given them back. - The Guardian
Archaeologists report that the site, about 20 miles southeast of Pamplona, was "of urban character — the city's name is currently unknown — and it developed during the (Roman) imperial period. Later, the same site (became) a rural habitat during the Visigoth and early Andalusian periods." (in English) - El País (Spain)
"A growing number of Latino artists are working to broaden and elevate how Americans view piñatas and (their) history. Some are carving out a place for piñatas in the arts world, while others use the object to make pointed social and political commentary." - The Guardian
Can a painter plagiarize a film? Maybe not in the legal sense - but instead of litigation, the museum and the artists involved in this case created something like reparation instead. - ARTnews
Basically, the plaintiff sued the wrong entity - Cattelan's gallery and a museum, not the artist himself. So "the ruling still leaves the key question of the case in doubt: whether a fabricator can rightfully claim authorship of an artwork made on commission for an artist." - Artnet
After an eye-popping NFT sale for the Uffizi turned out to net the museum only €70,000, far less than half of the sale, the government worries that its museums will forever lose control over Italy's culture in digital environments. - Artnet
The Museum of London - whose collection and attitude are absolute gems - has been squeezed into "an eccentric building" for years. Now "in a five-month blowout, the museum will host a packed programme of events" before moving to a new, larger home. - The Guardian (UK)
"In a quiet corner of the bohemian district of San Frediano, hidden behind an 18th-century iron gate that opens onto a whimsical wisteria-covered alleyway, lies a Florentine cultural treasure: the Antico Setificio Fiorentino." - The New York Times
Hirst's A Hundred Years, a glass cube in which flies hatch on one side and then fly into a bug zapper on the other, was removed from an exhibition at a German museum — whose director said, "We thought that flies were not covered by the Animal Welfare Act." - Artnet
Skywhale and her companion, Skywhalepapa, were to appear at an event in Ballarat, a historic town 72 miles WNW of Melbourne that's notorious for unpredictable and turbulent weather. Winds put a three-foot gash in Skywhale's underside, and she's gone back to the National Gallery of Australia for repair. - The Guardian
Mercedes Dorame's work, "in quiet ways, illuminates how Indigenous life and thought remain present in Los Angeles and its landscapes." - Los Angeles Times
