‘They adored each other’: book casts new light on Francis Bacon’s lover

Exclusive: Peter Lacy was not the sadistic fighter pilot and drunk he has been described as, authors say

Italy begins year of Dante anniversary events with virtual Uffizi exhibition

Gallery puts seldom-seen Divine Comedy sketches on display online to mark 700 years since poet’s death

Patti Smith: ‘As a writer, you can be a pacifist or a murderer’

As she prepares to ring in 2021 with a performance on screens at Piccadilly Circus, the punk poet explains why she’s optimistic amid the ‘debris’ of Trump’s years in office

Albrecht Dürer may not have written Lament on Luther, finds study

Research suggests elegy on arrest of Protestant reformer was the work not of the German artist but of a monk

Lady Gaga wellies and an inflatable Scream? Perfect! It’s the culture Xmas gift guide 2020

Need present ideas? We have 25 cultural crackers, including the Martin Parr breakfast tray, a guide to real-life Wes Anderson locations – plus socks inspired by Europe’s most popular brick-laying pattern

‘There are plenty of schlongs in art’ – Maggi Hambling defends her nude sculpture of Mary Wollstonecraft

Her tribute to the feminist icon caused outrage at last month’s unveiling, but the artist has no regrets. She hits back at her critics – and explains why this women’s rights pioneer had to be naked

Spirit of Place by Susan Owens review – idylls and nightmares

From Bede to WG Sebald ... a wide-ranging study of artists, writers and the British landscape asks whether what we see is shaped by what has already been depicted

Two polar bears come sniffing in the Arctic night: Esther Horvath’s best photograph

‘I heard from the ship that two bears were walking directly towards us. I told the scientists to pack up. When they said no, I showed no mercy’

‘This is our truth’: the world’s first graphic novel made by homeless people

A new crowdfunded book aims to challenge perceptions of homelessness – and change the lives of the people who wrote it

The bigger picture: should British museums sell to stay afloat?

As galleries auction off treasures to retain staff and plug cash gaps left by Covid, the art world is divided on ethics of disposal

On my radar: Jay Bernard’s cultural highlights

The poet on logic puzzles, sweetcorn ribs and listening to Idles on repeat

‘Treasure trove’ of unseen Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney writing found

Affectionate friendship between the two poets and artist Barrie Cooke, united by a love of fishing, revealed in a collection of correspondence that was believed lost

Virginia Woolf statue fundraiser flooded with donations after Wollstonecraft controversy

Campaign to fund statue by sculptor Laury Dizengremel of the author in Richmond receives thousands of pounds after naked Wollstonecraft statue divides public

Why I hate the Mary Wollstonecraft statue: would a man be ‘honoured’ with his schlong out?

Was a tiny, silver, ripped nude really the correct way to honour ‘the mother of feminism’? Admirers like me never expected to be left contemplating whether she had a full bush

Tim Olsen on getting out from under the shadow of his famous father John: ‘He’s not a demigod’

John Olsen’s Australian landscapes captured the world’s imagination but to his son the artist was akin to a deity – until he wasn’t