What’s the most surprising thing you learned while writing it? I tried to surprise myself with every sentence. I didn’t want it to be simply an excavation of anything I already knew. I was trying to lean toward the unexpected, paragraph by paragraph. I knew if I didn’t find that …

A worshipper walks in front of the Dome of the Rock in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City March 13, 2020 REUTERS/ Ammar Awad JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Muslims gathered in smaller-than-usual numbers at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on …

A HISTORY OF ISLAM IN 21 WOMENBy Hossein Kamaly Thomas Roe, Britain’s envoy in India during the 1620s, wrote of Empress Nur Jehan’s power over her husband, the Mughal emperor Jehangir, that she “governs him, and wynds him up at her pleasure.” The story of Nur Jehan, who was born …

Inigo Philbrick probably didn’t set out to become one of the art world’s great enigmas when, at the age of 24, he opened a gallery and consultancy in London, with the financial assistance of one of the industry’s better known dealers. Had elusiveness been Mr. Philbrick’s original intent, he would …

FILE PHOTO: Van Gogh Museum presents the condition of the restoration of Van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers” in Amsterdam, Netherlands January 24, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch national gallery, the Rijksmuseum, and the nearby Van Gogh museum, two of the Netherlands’ premier tourist attractions in Amsterdam, …

LONDON (Reuters) – A series of six paintings by the Venetian master Titian, commissioned by King Philip II of Spain and inspired by the works of the Roman poet Ovid, have been reunited for the first time in four centuries in an exhibition at London’s National Gallery. Visitors look at …

You’re probably reading and hearing a lot about coronavirus — the symptoms, its spread around the world, the calls for “social distancing.” If the constant news and updates are making you anxious, consider one of these novels or stories. You wouldn’t be alone: Publishers are reporting booming sales for books …

When the poet Osip Mandelstam was arrested by the Soviet secret police in the 1930s, he was taken to the notorious Lubyanka prison for interrogation. He drew a distinction between the guards “on the outside” — village youths doing terrible things out of a dim sense of duty — and …

Early James — the Alabama-born singer and songwriter Frederick James Mullis Jr. — just sidles his way into the first song on “Singing for My Supper,” his debut album. “Blue Pill Blues” has an instrumental intro that lasts more than a minute, with its riffs bubbling up out of what …

HAVANA (Reuters) – Dozens of renowned Cuban artists from across the political spectrum are calling for the release of dissident artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara who was arrested 10 days ago, decrying this as an outdated act of censorship. FILE PHOTO: Organizer of the “00Biennial” Luis Manuel Otero …