Conservation

Progressive scientists, or high-flying elitists? The Met unlocks a secret behind a famous Jacques-Louis David portrait

Scientific testing reveals that the artist radically changed his depiction of a Paris couple in a landmark 1788 painting

Afghanistan: the historical sites of key concern after the Taliban's return

From the Bamiyan Valley to an ancient spiritual centre of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, former Unesco senior official Francesco Bandarin looks at the embattled country’s most important landmarks

HeritageComment

With the Taliban’s take-over of Afghanistan, intangible cultural heritage is most at threat

The music, poetry, traditions and crafts that are kept alive by communities are especially vulnerable under the group’s ultra-conservative rule and the economic chaos of continuing conflict