Visiting places depicted in the works in the Gallery's collection can be very rewarding, but on this occasion the reality thoroughly undid the artist's efforts.

Puerile I know, but I was astounded by the similarity of Leo Bensemann's portrait of St Francis and the Scots actor Alan Cumming.

The new branch of the Louvre opened in December 2012 in the depressed, and I'm sorry to say depressing, former mining town of Lens in northern France. Tate Liverpool, Guggenheim Bilbao, and now Louvre Lens: industrial towns all in chronic decline given new life by art.

An undated Victorian engraving and a modern photograph.

Seeking a way to entertain my nieces led me to NG Gallery on Sunday. The new Youle Wall (as opposed to the 'old' fabulous Youle wall mural in Sydenham) is this beauty in Christchurch Art Gallery's NG space in Madras Street.