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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

"Monna Vanna," ca 1515. Found in the collection of the Condé Museum, Chantilly.

Cool Finds

Experts Think This ‘Nude Mona Lisa’ Could Have Been Drawn by Leonardo da Vinci

Previously attributed to his students, close examination of the charcoal drawing shows a left-handed artist created most of the artwork

Illustrated Police News periodical detailing the murders

New Book Chronicles the Lives of Jack the Ripper’s Victims

Contrary to popular belief, the five women were not all prostitutes, but rather individuals down on their luck

The rate was double what the team was expecting.

Nearly Half of Americans Have a Close Family Member Who Has Been Incarcerated

A new study highlights the sheer scope of mass incarceration in the United States

Dr. Seuss drawing at his desk

New Dr. Seuss Book, Which Teaches Kids to Love Art, Will Be Published This Fall

‘Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum’ features an ‘affable horse’ who guides students through a museum of horse-themed artwork

The Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain is one of many museums featuring curvilinear edges

Art Meets Science

New Study Offers Clues to Dominance of Curve-Filled Museum Designs

Architects are more likely than non-experts to deem curvilinear spaces beautiful, but less likely to enter curved over straight-edged rooms

The cactus spines, bound together with yucca leaves, are still stained with black ink

Cool Finds

These 2,000-Year-Old Needles, Still Sharp, Are the Oldest Tattooing Instruments Found in the Southwestern U.S.

Originally excavated in 1972, the pronged cactus-spine tool languished in storage for more than 40 years before its true purpose was recognized

Artifacts on display at Don Miller's farm in 2014. For more than seven decades, Miller unearthed cultural artifacts from North America, South America, Asia, the Caribbean, and in Indo-Pacific regions such as Papua New Guinea.

The F.B.I. Is Trying to Return Thousands of Stolen Artifacts, Including Native American Burial Remains

Five years after the F.B.I.’s six-day raid on a rural Indiana home, the agency is turning to the public for help identifying and repatriating the artifacts

"The Young Lincoln" James Lee Hansen

‘Hot Lincoln’ Stands in Long Line of Attractive Presidential Sculpture

Before hot Lincoln, there was ripped Washington, nude Napoleon and muscular ancient Greek sculptures

This could be your future.

You Can Now Apply to Be a Cadbury Chocolate Taster

A “passion for confectionary” is required

American South

Houston’s Rothko Chapel Casts a New Light

When the meditative space reopens, a new skylight will filter the right amount of light on the 14 canvasses installed in the artist’s octagonal masterpiece

The drawings and inscriptions date to 207 A.D.

Graffiti Left by Soldiers Repairing Hadrian’s Wall Will Be Immortalized in 3-D

Historic London calls the etchings “some of the most important” along the empire’s sprawling 73-mile northern border

The volume of poetry is set to be sold alongside a trove of photographs passed down by the Barrow family.

Notebook of Poetry Penned by Bonnie and Clyde Set to Go on Auction

The volume features poems written by the outlaw duo during their Depression-era crime spree

Vincent van Gogh, "Tree Roots," 1890

Van Gogh Museum Suggests Artist’s Last Painting Has Long Been Misidentified

Experts argue that the abstract “Tree Roots” is a more likely candidate than the oft-cited “Wheatfield With Crows”

Interior of the House Of Tomorrow, Century Of Progess Homes

‘House of Tomorrow,’ Futuristic Marvel From the 1933 World’s Fair, Is Available to Lease

Tenants will be expected to take on between $2.5 and 3 million in renovations of the historic property

Bernard Schottlander, "Calypso," c. 1972

Why 150,000 Sculptures in the U.K. Are Being Digitized

The expansive campaign by Art U.K. wants open up a conversation on the medium

Indiana Is Now Home to the Newest National Park

The area previously known as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is known for its varied landscapes and rich biodiversity

The "Faces of Dudley" mural depicts residents of Boston's Roxbury neighborhood

This Map Details More Than 200 Massachusetts Sites Connected to African-American History

You can contribute to the project by suggesting new entries or proposing edits to existing ones via the project’s main hub

Construction is slated to begin in 2020, with the museum officially opening its doors in late 2022

Art Meets Science

Seoul Will Welcome a Robot Science Museum Constructed by Robots

Robots and drones will be involved in all aspects of the project, including design, manufacture and assembly

Author Charles Dickens (1812-1870) pictured with his wife, Catherine Dickens (1815-1879), and two of their daughters, seated in a horsedrawn carriage, circa 1850.

Trove of Letters Reveal Charles Dickens Tried to Lock His Wife Away in an Asylum

Catherine’s side of the breakup tale comes back with vengeance thanks to new analysis of 98 previously unseen missives

The late publisher and editor Betty Ballantine at the Nebula Awards on April 28, 2002 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Sci-Fi Lovers Owe a Debt of Gratitude to Betty Ballantine

“Introverted and quiet” Betty, who ran the editorial side of the Ballantine publishing companies, deserves her due for changing the industry

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