A medieval silver seal found in a North Yorkshire field is at the centre of an ownership dispute after being declared treasure by a coroner.
The seal, which shows the murder of former Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket in 1170, was found near Catterick and is regarded as being of national importance.

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Several items of pottery have been excavated and a furnace which may have been used to smelt minerals.
Researchers said the find at Calstock, close to a silver mine, could show for the first time the Romans’ interest in exploiting Cornish minerals.

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A team of experts has unearthed an 800-year-old cellar under a central Berlin car park which they say dates the city back to the 12th century, earlier than previously thought.

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I realize that not all of the readers of this blog are in the DC area, but those that are (or who will be visiting the capital area in the next few months) may be interested in some of the lectures that the Smithsonian will be hosting, through its Resident Associate programs.

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Parmigianino’s hauntingly beautiful portrait of a young woman known as Antea (c.1531–34) will be on view at The Frick Collection in New York through April 27 — in its first visit to the U.S. in more than twenty years.

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A recent auction at Sotheby’s sold a limewood sculpture of Saint Catherine by Tilman Riemenschneider, and a terracotta relief of the Madonna and Child by Donatello, establishing new auction sales records for works by those artists. See related stories in Artdaily.org and ARTINFO.com for photos of these, and more on the auction.

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