Art historians have long wondered: what did Leonardo da Vinci look like? The Renaissance genius left no youthful self-portraits, but experts have long suspected that he may have inserted his likeness into one of his own works. Now one author has proposed a tantalising new theory – that Leonardo actually depicted himself, twice, in The Last Supper.

For years scholars have wondered what he looked like. But was the answer staring them in the face all along?

Stefan Simanowitz samples the most artistic of Olympic cuisines

Mummy's Saturday treat was breakfast in bed. After we'd eaten, my big brother Roger and I went upstairs to bring down her empty tray. "Can we come back up to read, Mummy?" I asked.

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (Formerly Filton College)

From an early age, Maurice Sendak knew where the wild things were. His Brooklyn upbringing, he once recalled, was overshadowed by the death of his extended family in the Holocaust. "My childhood was about thinking about the kids over there... My burden is living for those who didn't."

The Conservatives' smooth PR mask slipped as scandal and silliness reigned

What I Learnt This Week

'There was something on the menu that sounded rude, so of course she had to order it'

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes, Hugh Dancy / Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C Reill

It was his friend Sir Patrick Duffy, long-serving MP for Sheffield, war hero and Navy Minister, who encapsulated the career of Mick Welsh – few called him Michael – the MP for Don Valley from 1979-83 and Doncaster North from 1983-92. "The thing about Mick was that, albeit an authentic Yorkshire miner – no frills – he worked well with Conservatives, to whom some of his views must have anathema. Due to his personality and easy-going temperament, he knew how to get on on a Select Committee."

The hangover has arrived... No matter what good intentions I have as I enter early December, they get carried away on a tide of, well, good tidings! I invariably eat too much, work too much, play too much and drink too much. So I see January as the time to get everything back into balance, armed with New Year's resolutions of all kinds, and while it's a bit of a cliché, what you put into your body is the best place to start.

Christmas books of the year