‘Cancelled’ seems to be the word that best sums up Britain

Much fuss was made recently over the discovery of a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, a near contemporary of Caravaggio’s, and the first woman to bring a successful rape charge in a Roman court. The painting of ‘Susanna and the Elders’ was found gathering dust in a storeroom at Hampton Court. Cleaned up and now glowing with colour, it is Artemisia’s take on an ancient Bible story. Two lecherous men catch Susanna naked while bathing. They blackmail her to have sex with them and, when she resists, falsely accuse her of adultery. The charge is thrown out by a judge. Susanna is vindicated and the men revealed as liars. Because a boldly depicted naked woman takes up so much of the canvas, many have assumed that it must have been painted by a man. But Artemisia was a very skilful operator. A woman in a very macho world, she used her great skill in portraying the unclothed female body to make money from leery male collectors. But she had the last laugh as her subject matter is always the power of strong women over weak men. Her depiction of Judith cutting off the head of Holofernes is feminism at its most brutal and most jubilant.

Do motorcyclists think the speed limit doesn’t apply to them? Motorists in our neighbourhood are now required to potter along at 20mph. This is fine, but it lulls pedestrians into a false sense of security as they step off the curb only to find a bike carrying two coffees and a prawn curry racing round the corner at 50 miles an hour. Some of them at least announce their approach with an ear-splitting roar, giving you time, unless you’re old or disabled, to jump back on to the pavement to let them pass. I’ve never seen a bike stopped for speeding.