• The portraits of Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto, known for their rich symbolism, have gone on show at The National Gallery. Highlights of Lorenzo Lotto Portraits include masterpieces as the Bishop Bernardo de‘ Rossi (1505) and the monumental altarpiece of The Alms of Saint Antoninus of Florence (1540–2) brought to the UK from Venice for the first time as well as the Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Anthony Abbot and Louis of Toulouse (1506), The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with Niccolò Bonghi (1523 – pictured), the Portrait of a Young Man with a Lizard (1528–30), and the Portrait of a Man with a Felt Hat (1541?). The display, which is arranged over four rooms, also includes objects relating to the portraits including a carpet, sculpture, jewellery, clothing and books. Runs until 10th February. Admission is free. For more, see www.nationalgallery.org.uk. PICTURE: Lorenzo Lotto, ‘Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with Donor Niccolò Bonghi’, 1523, Oil on canvas, 172 x 143cm, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, © Fondazione Accademia Carrara, Bergamo.

• The first exhibition to take a detailed look at the life of Assyrian King Ashurbanipal has opened at the British Museum. I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria focuses on the 7th century BC when Ashurbanipal was the most powerful person on earth, ruling a vast and diverse empire from his capital of Babylon. More than 200 objects from the museum’s collection and other collections across the world feature in the display including massive stone sculptures, carved reliefs, carved ivories and metalwork, and ornate chariot fittings and weaponry. And in a contemporary twist, the final section of the exhibition looks at the challenges faced in protecting Iraqi cultural heritage in recent times. Runs until 24th February in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org.

• A joint exhibition of works by Austrian artists Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) and Egon Schiele (1890-1918) has opened at the Royal Academy to mark the centenary of their deaths. Klimt / Schiele: Drawings from the Albertina Museum, Vienna is the first UK exhibition to focus on the fundamental importance of drawing to both artists and traces their use of the technique from their academic training days through to their later unconventional explorations of the human figure. About 100 works on paper feature in the display including studies for allegorical paintings, portraits and self-portraits, landscapes, erotic nudes and a sketchbook as well as carefully selected examples of lithographs, photographs and original publications. Runs in The Sackler Wing of Galleries until 3rd February. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.royalacademy.org.uk.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.