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Art historians believe the rediscovered red-chalk sketch may have been a character study for the young girl who appears in the Manet’s The Old Musician (1862). 

An Enigmatic Chalk Drawing, Rediscovered in a Private Italian Collection, Has Been Identified as the Long-Lost Work of Édouard Manet

The sketch of a young girl, in the red chalk characteristic of Manet’s 1860s life studies, is thought to be linked to several of the artist’s paintings

The wall is made of stone and wood; initial radiocarbon dating places its origin between 200 B.C.E. and 10 B.C.E.

Two Thousand Years Ago, Julius Caesar Conquered the Settlement That Eventually Became Paris. Archaeologists May Have Just Found It

While conducting excavations at a hospital on the Île de la Cité, in the Seine River, researchers discovered part of a wall that may have once protected Lutetia, the Gallic precursor to France’s capital

Monet painted Rouen Cathedral more than 30 times in the 1890s.

Why Did Claude Monet Paint the Same Scenes Over and Over Again? The Impressionist Artist Was Obsessed With Capturing the Fleeting Nature of Time

An upcoming exhibition at Tate Modern will feature more than 60 artworks created by Monet between the 1870s and 1920s. These pieces reveal how he documented changing light and weather conditions

On display in Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology, the pictorial manuscript is opened to a folio that depicts eight Indigenous communities preparing for their voyage to Tenochtitlan, the eventual Aztec capital.

A Rare Aztec Codex Detailing the Rise and Fall of Tenochtitlan Returns to Mexico for the First Time in Nearly Two Centuries

The artifact, among the most prized visual accounts of Aztec history, will be on display in Mexico City for three months

Alfred Lepère’s Faune Chasseur is back on display at the Musée de Picardie, in Amiens, France.

Mysteriously Stolen More Than 30 Years Ago, and Illicitly Transported to the U.S., This 300-Pound Sculpture Is Finally Back Home in France

Alfred Lepère’s hulking “Faune Chasseur” artwork is once again on display at the Musée de Picardie, in Amiens

The Renoir Museum occupies the Impressionist's final home.

Thieves Broke Into a French Museum and Made Off With Renoir Paintings Worth More Than $2.5 Million

Early today, burglars stole four artworks from the Renoir Museum, in the French Riviera, only to drop two of them as they escaped

Claude Monet's Bord des falaises à Pourville (1882) is the centerpiece of the auction, expected to sell for up to $17.4 million. 

Historic Trove of Monets, Renoirs and Other Impressionist Masterpieces Expected to Fetch Up to $50 Million on Auction Block This Fall

More than 60 paintings from the private estate of Paul Durand-Ruel, who shepherded Impressionism out from obscurity, will be up for sale

Toby Rawlinson in his Hudson roadster after the First Battle of Ypres, November 1914.

Some of the Earliest Automobile Enthusiasts Signed Up to Help the Allies in WWI. They Also Ushered in the Mechanization of War

When the gentlemen drivers of Britain’s Royal Automobile Club Volunteer Force shipped their roadsters and racers to face the Germans, they became chauffeurs, couriers and inadvertent combatants

A 1945 photo of Francis Lowell Coolidge (third from left) in the Pacific theater of World War II

Untold Stories of American History

This American Commando Parachuted Behind Enemy Lines in Both the European and Pacific Theaters of World War II

A direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lowell Coolidge was an agent with the Office of Strategic Services, a predecessor to the CIA. Read his goodbye letter to his wife, published here for the first time

Tennis courts where the author played at Outbound Sedona in the Arizona heat

Tennis Matches Are Heating Up, Literally. Here’s How the Court Became a Living Laboratory for Managing Extreme Temperatures

The sport’s hard-court surfaces can reach some 30 degrees hotter than the surrounding air. With elite players suffering heat illness on the world stage, athletes are following personalized cooling plans

Baptistery of Saint Louis basin, engraved and inlaid copper alloy, silver, gold and black compound, Egypt or Syria, Mamluk dynasty, c. 1325-1340

For the First Time, a Selection of Islamic Masterpieces From the Louvre Is Coming to the United States. See the Treasures Soon to Be Displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

Twenty-six works spanning many centuries and regions will form the September exhibition titled “From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art”

The fragments shed light on Guernsey's literary culture during the late medieval period.

Cool Finds

These Medieval Manuscript Fragments Were Reused as Parchment, Inadvertently Preserving Them for Centuries

Recently discovered on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, the pages include Bible passages, poems, plays and other texts. They were repurposed as book bindings during the 16th and 17th centuries

Claude Monet lived in Giverny, a small village about 50 miles northwest of Paris, for more than four decades.

In France, Brutal Summer Heat Waves Are Taking a Toll on the Flowers That Inspired Claude Monet’s Most Beloved Paintings

The colorful nasturtiums at the artist’s house and gardens have been hit particularly hard this summer as France grapples with a record 52 heatwave days

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting Bishop Odo rallying William's army during the Battle of Hastings in 1066

How Should the Bayeux Tapestry End? A New Competition Invites Children to Reimagine Its Missing Final Panel

Some historians think the 230-foot-long artwork is missing its final panel, which may have once depicted William the Conqueror’s coronation. As the tapestry goes on view in London, students will be drafting endings of their own

Jacques Pépin

One of the Most Important Cookbooks of the 20th Century Is Celebrating 50 Years. What Made Its French Author So Special in American Kitchens?

With instructions and images explaining how to carve vegetables and deconstruct a lamb, “La Technique” by Jacques Pépin became a how-to guide and an inspiration for countless cooks and food lovers

Formerly a royal residence, the Louvre Palace is now home to one of the world’s most famous museums.  

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

See 20 Picturesque Views of Paris

France’s charming city

Beachgoers rested at Lake Lacanau's Moutchic Beach in southwestern France last week, as clouds of smoke rose into the sky from the Gironde wildfire.

Dangerous ‘Fire Clouds’ Are Making France’s Wildfires Even More Destructive

It’s the first time the phenomenon, which is fairly common in North America, has been observed in France

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site this week. 

This Alligator-Rich Swamp in the American South Just Joined the UNESCO World Heritage List, Along With the Home of the Greek Gods

The 25 new locations, determined to bear “outstanding universal value” for the world, also include the D-Day landing site in Normandy, France

A portrait of Chagall taken by Pierre Choumoff 

French Customs Detained This Marc Chagall Etching for Two Decades After an Attempted Border Crossing. Now It’s Headed for Public Display

An acrobat perches on a violin in the absurd scene, which draws on the Russian artist’s favored motifs

The gallery, where royal crown jewels were once exhibited, reopened to the public this week. 

Months After Burglars Stole Crown Jewels From the Louvre, the Apollo Gallery Reopens, Highlighting Its Origins as a Royal Reception Hall

Museum officials hope visitors will appreciate the gilded hall, conceived by Louis XIV more than 360 years ago, for its history and ornamentation, even without the crown jewels

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