Henry James famously wrote in his Italian Hours (1909) that there is nothing more to be said about Venice. As so much ink has been spilt over its charms you can see his point. However, James then proceeded to rhapsodise at length about its beauty; and it is imperative that we, similarly, keep talking and writing and championing it, not least because all that it represents seems to be more precious and precarious than ever.

Visionaries are fundamental to the avant-gardes that appeared in Europe in the inter-war years. Few, however, were as prescient, pragmatic and tactical as Sonia Delaunay (1885–1979). Over the past decade, the artistic achievements of the Ukrainian-born, Russian-educated and German-trained pioneer have been radically reappraised. Long celebrated for her contributions to histories of modernist textile and fashion, today, the ambitious entrepreneurial vision that steered her multifaceted practice is also being recognised.

Two magnificent eighteenth-century handscrolls depict myriad precious objects made of jade, bronze, porcelain, glass and bamboo. A novel interpretation of their function su ests that the illustrations were originally for wall decorations and remounted as scrolls for the Yongzheng Emperor’s tomb. The paintings’ remediation and repurposing o er a compelling example of the art of Qing imperial afterlife.