How to time travel your way back to Renaissance Florence
The first patrons to pit Raphael and Michelangelo directly against each other were the wealthy Florentine fabric merchant Agnolo Doni and his new young wife, Maddalena Strozzi. Soon after he came to Rome, they commissioned Raphael to paint their portraits against an idyllic Tuscan landscape. At the same time, they commissioned Michelangelo to make what […]
How to keep Taylor Swift safe
Taylor Swift’s fame and fortune – 14 Grammys, a record-breaking tour, the first musician to reach billionaire status solely from her music – make her a possible target for anyone from ambitious criminals to deranged extremists. She has endured multiple stalkers and crazed fans over the years and her security has resorted to controversial methods […]
How Simon Hopkinson taught the nation how to roast a chicken – and top chefs how to cook
In 1983, after a few years as chef at The Shed (Dinas, Pembrokeshire) and another few as an inspector for the Egon Ronay restaurant guides, he started out at Hilaire on London’s Old Brompton Road. Within a few years the triumvirate of Hopkinson, Rowley Leigh and Alastair Little (RIP) were the hippest chefs in town. […]
How to make small talk if you are to succeed socially this Christmas
“Hello, lovely to meet you. So, how much do you weigh?” Don’t worry, you needn’t answer unless you wish to. But you’ll agree it’s a useful reminder of how not to make small talk if you want to succeed socially this Christmas. You might assume it’s intuitive to avoid highly personal questions when shooting the […]