Europe

'Cultures – The World Arts Fair' is a gallery-based event staged every June in the antique-dealing district of Brussels known as The Sablon.

An unexpected highlight of an April 28-29 sale held by Brussels saleroom The Romantic Agony (24% buyer’s premium), was a leaf from an illuminated manuscript.

Tribal, non-European or ethnographic art has experienced a huge growth in both general and financial appreciation this century. This boost is partly due to the connections made between indigenous art and its influence on modern and contemporary artists.

While most tribal art events take place in major cities, the Bourgogne Tribal Show makes the most of its rural location.

Estimated at CHF9000-12,000, a panel painted in the manner of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) sold for CHF700,000 (£564,500) at Galartis SA in Crissier, Lausanne on May 5.

The ancient Romans believed that no matter what happened in the world or how many empires came and collapsed, Rome would live forever. Hence its description by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC as the Eternal City.

Following the publication in 1632 of his Dialogo…, Galileo found himself hauled before the Inquisition and tried for his heretical views.

On May 19, not for the first time, Van Ham in Cologne is selling a painting by Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia (1811-80), a Javanese prince who made a career for himself during the 22 years he spent in Europe, mainly in The Netherlands and Germany.

The jewellery sale at Il Ponte in Milan on May 17-18 will include items with provenance to a number of Italian aristocratic families.

Gustave Vichy was probably the most accomplished manufacturer of automata in fin de siècle France. A prime example of his art is putting in an appearance at the May 20 sale of Auction Team Breker in Cologne.

A relatively unfamiliar name in Nordic works is under the spotlight at Bruun Rasmussen in Copenhagen in its Nordic Design auction on Thursday, June 8.

Classic antiques from furniture and works of art to scientific instruments and a Roman marble torso all feature in Artcurial’s evening sale in its Paris rooms on May 16.

Francis Picabia (1879-1953) famously declared that he wanted to change his ideas “as often as one would change one’s shirt”, and he embraced many different artistic styles throughout his life.