Before the appearance of the clock in the West around the year 1300, medieval ideas about time were simultaneously simple and complex. Time was both finite for routine daily activities and unending for the afterlife; the day was divided into a fixed set of hours, whereas the year was made up of two overlapping systems of annual holy feasts. Perhaps unexpectedly, many of these concepts continue to influence the way we understand time, seasons, and holidays into the twenty-first century. Drawing upon the Morgan’s rich collection of illuminated manuscripts, Now and Forever: The Art of Medieval Time explores how people in the Middle Ages told time, conceptualized history, and conceived of the afterlife. It brings together more than fifty-five calendars, Bibles, chronicles, histories, and a sixty-foot genealogical scroll. They include depictions of monthly labors, the marking of holy days and periods, and fantastical illustrations of the hereafter. The exhibition opened January 26 and

The National Gallery of Art in Washington has indefinitely postponed a planned exhibition of works by artist Chuck Close due to sexual misconduct claims against him. In light of the allegations against Close and photographer Thomas Roma, “all parties involved acknowledged that it is not the appropriate time to present these installations,” museum spokeswoman Anabeth Guthrie told AFP on Sunday. She noted that the museum, which has 53 Close drawings, photographs, prints, collages and paintings in its collection, has never before postponed a show over sexual misconduct claims. The Gallery also owns 87 Roma prints from his 1991-1994 series “Come Sunday” from a project that saw him photograph more than 150 religious services. Late last year, several women told US media that Close, who is handicapped and relies on a wheelchair due to spinal artery collapse, had asked them to undress and made unwanted advances and explicit comments when they visited his studio.

When Abdul Karim al-Kafarnah went to check the rainwater gushing down a hole in his garden he was in for quite a shock — hidden steps led him down to an ancient grave complex. The 24-year-old lives in the Beit Hanoun district of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli border which suffered intensive bombardment during the 2014 conflict between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants. The family home was destroyed and the surrounding plots heavily churned up, leaving extensive craters in the ground. The flash-flooding earlier this week led him to one particular spot, where, on removing a large stone, he found a staircase leading four metres (13 feet) down into an ancient tomb. “I discovered the place where the water was falling in,” he told AFP. “I lifted the stone and a stale smell came out.”

The Royal Academy of Arts, in partnership with Royal Collection Trust, presents Charles I: King and Collector, a landmark exhibition that reunites one of the most extraordinary and influential art collections ever assembled. During his reign, Charles I (1600-1649) acquired and commissioned exceptional masterpieces from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, including works by Van Dyck, Rubens, Holbein, Titian and Mantegna, amongst others. Charles I was executed in 1649 and just months later the collection was offered for sale and dispersed across Europe. Although many works were retrieved by Charles II during the Restoration, others now form the core of collections such as the Musée du Louvre and the Museo Nacional del Prado. Charles I: King and Collector reunites around 150 of the most important works for the first time since the seventeenth century, providing an unprecedented opportunity to experience the collection th