Jane Alexander

Joined: Apr 26, 2021

Jane Alexander is a freelance writer based in the UK. She focuses on literature, history, and the visual arts, and has previously written for Londonist, among other publications.

The cover of Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited.’

One of Henri Matisse’s cut-out artworks.

Cultures throughout history have come up with their own unique ways to track the days, months, and seasons.

Not a place you would expect to see members of a clergy playing a game.

From "scrabbling games" to hunting hares, these old Easter traditions have fallen out of fashion.

Easter always happens sometime in March or April—but the date is never the same each year.

James Cowan Smith really wanted people at the National Gallery in Edinburgh to see this painting of his deceased dog, Callum.

People donate artwork, objects, and even money to the institution of their choice. But sometimes, museums and galleries wind up receiving something odd—or something fairly normal, but with strange stipulations attached.

This winged being is the Archangel Raphael, not Cupid.

St. Valentine may get the romantic holiday, but he isn’t the only religious figure linked to love.

Each month’s full moon marks the changing seasons.

A man checking out Caspar David Friedrich’s ‘The Sea of Ice.’

From post-battle landscapes to cold weather fun, the events that occurred during frosty temperatures have led many an artist to pick up their brush and get painting.

A dreidel and pile of chocolate gelt are a common sight during Hanukkah celebrations.

It’s often said the dreidel was a way Jewish people communicated their faith during ancient times of oppression. But the Hanukkah game is actually a lot more recent.