PSYCHOLOGISTS say we don’t like food on a plate that points towards us, no matter how beautifully it is presented. According to new research, anything pointy — a young carrot, perhaps — should be at a 45-degree angle from the diner.

Rita de Brun was a widow before 40, so she is sceptical of research that says we are happiest at any particular time. It’s different for everyone. Some people thrive later, into their 60s and 70s. We asked three celebrities in their prime if they were less or more content now.

An etching of the head of a young girl, by Paul Cezanne, will feature on the stand of The Whitley Art Gallery at a day-long antique fair at Acton’s Hotel in Kinsale tomorrow, July 27.

‘The Birth of Modern Music’ is the programme for the Music for Galway Midwinter Festival, which runs from Jan 17 to 19.

WHAT sound does a bubble make just before it bursts?

A British man who bought a painting from a junk shop has discovered it could be a £40,000 (€45,412) masterpiece.

Police refused to comment today on reports that four stolen paintings worth around €119m had been found in the car park of a Swiss mental hospital 500 yards from where they were taken.

The estimated value of art taken from a Zurich museum by armed robbers has risen to around €120.5m, police said today.

Armed robbers have stolen artworks worth US$100m (€68.7m) from a Zurich museum, Swiss police said today.

A masterpiece by Claude Monet which has not been seen in public for over a century has been unveiled at an auction house.

The National Art gallery is set to stage one of the most ambitious exhibitions in its history involving top European impressionists - soon after the New Year introduction of the new euro currency.