Rembrandt from Tronchin's collection, bought for Scotland with the brewer McEwan's money

There is something in this: to have oneself recorded only with one's finest possessions, one's most cherished objects and in handsome attire. Had Tronchin not been so proud of his collection, and above all of its pearl, this canvas by Rembrandt would have had a different history. It now hangs in the National Galleries of Scotland. The picture was bought for the Royal Scottish Academy with the money of the patron William McEwan, an Edinburgh brewer who supported the Academy and set aside £2,000 for the purchase of a masterpiece for it. When this Rembrandt was found in 1892, McEwan raised the sum to £5,000, and the picture was bought. We are left to reflect with vexation that in its day the canvas did not end up in Russia, but was severed from the main collection and acquired an entirely different history

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Congressman Raskin proposes Smithsonian exhibition on Trump's propaganda

Jamie Raskin, the Democratic congressman for Maryland, has introduced in the US House of Representatives a bill that would oblige the Smithsonian Institution to create a permanent exhibition on the propaganda of Donald Trump. The bill is entitled the "Preserving and Remembering the History of Trump and Other Tyrants

Bronze Gallic bracelet of the 3rd or 2nd century BC from the Bucquoy necropolis

This bronze bracelet, discovered in the Celtic necropolis of Bucquoy in the department of Val-d'Oise, is an outstanding example of Gallic jewellery-making. The ornament dates from the 3rd or 2nd century BC and belongs to the heyday of the La Tène culture. The piece is distinguished

How silver became the basis of the Ming tax system and why its shortage destroyed the dynasty

The emperors of the Ming dynasty, which ruled China from 1368 to 1644, were in dire need of silver in the sixteenth century. It went chiefly on prestige projects such as the Forbidden City in Beijing and the repair of the Great Wall. The historian Mark Cartwright writes in the

The White Mouse cocktail from London's The Stafford hotel and the life of spy Nancy Wake

Thirty millilitres of saffron gin, fifteen millilitres of fresh lemon juice, fifteen millilitres of honey and rosemary syrup, dry champagne and a star anise for garnish. The White Mouse cocktail is named after the legendary Nancy Wake, the most decorated servicewoman of the Second World War. The Gestapo nicknamed her

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Congressman Raskin proposes Smithsonian exhibition on Trump's propaganda

Bronze Gallic bracelet of the 3rd or 2nd century BC from the Bucquoy necropolis

How silver became the basis of the Ming tax system and why its shortage destroyed the dynasty

The White Mouse cocktail from London's The Stafford hotel and the life of spy Nancy Wake