Italy assesses cultural heritage sites following destructive earthquake that rattled country’s center. On Wednesday morning, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook the central region of Italy near Rome, devastating the Lazio and Marche regions. However, the Basilica di San Francesco d’Assisi—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—has been declared safe.
Artist Peter Doig wins bizarre authentication court case. An Illinois judge has ruled that a painting owned by a former corrections officer was indeed not painted by the Scottish artist. The painting’s owner, former corrections officer Robert Fletcher, took Doig to court seeking $7.9 million in damages after Doig claimed he wasn’t the artist behind the picture.
Wondering what that black slime covering your city’s local landmarks is? The National Parks Service has investigated a widespread phenomena that seems to be affecting some of the world’s most recognizable monuments. The dark film that’s been growing more and more visible on stone monuments, such as the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., has been revealed to be a biofilm comprised of microscopic organisms.
Museum guard sues the Met after being blamed for damage to Egyptian statues. Former guard James Smith claims that security camera footage will prove that he wasn’t responsible for green marks that appeared on two statues in the museum’s Egyptian galleries on his watch.
