Art history

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Pod Garrett Ryan WL

Naked statues, naughty gods & bad wine . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Duke stars Jim Broadment and Helen Mirren, pictured with Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington

The Duke: The real story of Kempton Bunton and the theft of Goya’s Wellington portrait

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Louis Wain, c1900, with one of his pet cats. Photo by Ernest H. Mills/Getty Images)

Louis Wain: the cat-loving artist who forever changed the way that we see our feline friends . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Pod Caroline Shenton WL

Second World War

The secret WW2 mission to save Britain’s art collections . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Portrait of Maria Sibylla Merian, by Jacob Marrel, 1679 (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Maria Sibylla Merian: the artist who challenged the natural world . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

William Hogarth, seen in a self-portrait with his pug

William Hogarth The satirical artist inspired by the teachings of the Bible

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Mary Wellesley uncovers the hidden stories of the artisans and authors behind medieval manuscripts. (Image by Getty Images)

Medieval manuscript makers . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Progressive potter: Josiah Wedgwood (1730–95). As well as pioneering new types of pottery, he also imbued his work with political radicalism. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Josiah Wedgwood: the radical father of English pottery

Daniel Lambert in a 19th-century painting

Super-sized Georgians: why satirists were fixated with fatness

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Tristram Hunt discusses Josiah Wedgwood; groundbreaking potter, enterprising businessman and political radical. (Image by Getty Images)

Wedgwood: the radical potter . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Alex von Tunzelmann explores the stories behind some of the world’s most controversial statues – and gives her take on whether they should stand or fall. (Image by Getty Image)

Should they stand or fall? The great statue debate . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Napoleon portrait by Jacques-Louis David shows is perhaps the most famous painting of the French emperor with one hand tucked out of sight

Why do Napoleon’s portraits often show him with one hand inside his shirt? The story of the French emperor’s missing hand…

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Jacqueline Riding discusses the life and work of the famed artist and satirist William Hogarth, and explores how his many engravings and portraits charted the morals and vices of the 18th century. (Image by Getty Images)

Hogarth: the chronicler of the 18th century . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Ritchie Robertson responds to listener questions on the intellectual and philosophical movement that swept Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. (Image by Getty Images)

The Enlightenment: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (Photo by Alamy)

Ravenna: from Roman powerhouse to artistic hub . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.