Culture lovers have long believed in the healing power art. Now, science has caught up, with new research showing it has measurable benefits on the body.

A study from King’s College London has found that looking at original artworks, in a gallery, doesn’t just lift us emotionally – it also has a positive impact on our physical health.

Fifty people aged between 18 and 40 were shown art by a selection of leading 19th-century artists: Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, van Gogh and Gauguin.

Participants viewed five paintings for three minutes each, in a 20-minute session.

But while half viewed the original paintings in the Courtauld Gallery in London, the others looked at reproductions in a neutral setting.

Their heart rates and skin temperature were measured with research-grade digital watches to indicate levels of interest and arousal, and saliva samples were taken with swabs before and after the session to measure stress hormones.

The results in those looking at the results in the gallery were significant, and immediate: The stress hormone cortisol fell by 22% and inflammatory markers linked to health problems including heart disease, diabetes and depression were reduced by as much as 30%.

No change was observed in the reproduction group.

Dr Tony Woods of King’s College London, who was the study’s lead researcher, told Sky News: “The magnitude of the difference between being in here and looking at the real art, looking at the copies in the laboratory, the difference between the two participant groups was quite enormous.”

It’s good news for the NHS, which is increasing its use of social prescribing, which can include visits to galleries.

Dr Woods went on: “The government’s health strategy is all about prevention. And this is a gift to [Health Secretary] Wes Streeting. Art is very well worth investing in because of the return on investment – it will keep people out of hospitals.”

Over one and a half million people in the UK accessed social prescribing between September and August this year across the UK, and NHS England told Sky News their ambition is to make it available to every person in England.

Dr Woods says the next steps of the study will be to find out how long the positive effects last, and research further into the effects of art on older participants.

Russell Tovey, actor, art lover and co-host of Talk Art, chatted to Sky News about his favourite piece at the gallery – van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889).

Tovey jokes: “Look at this painting here. It’s quite a troublesome picture, especially for me with my ears…

“But you can look at the surface and the way that he makes brushstrokes and the scale of the things and the colour he used. And you think about his life at the time and where he was living, and all those questions and answers will reveal the painting.”

Tovey adds: “Art is intrinsic to humanity,” and “shows us who we are”.

And now with the new findings, the hope is that gallery visits will be considered just as good as your ‘five-a-day’.

Tovey goes on: “It’s good for your health, it’s beneficial to your mental health and to your wellbeing to be in a museum and to be around art…

“If you eat well, go to the gym and go to a regular art gallery visit, then your health will be through the roof.”

Tovey’s podcast co-host, gallery owner Robert Diament, agrees: “I think it’s really important just to slow down a bit. Going to a museum or gallery can be part of your self-care routine… It will improve your life.”

Amid rising costs, reduced funding and dwindling visitor numbers, the findings could also provide a boost to galleries.

Jenny Waldman, Art Fund director, told Sky News: “These museums and galleries were set up in all cities and towns by people, you know, hundreds of years ago, who felt that it was good for people. So, this is the evidence, finally, that they were right.”

The national charity for museums and galleries, Art Fund champions art around the country, with initiatives including the National Art Pass which offers free or discounted entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic places around the UK.

So, what do gallery visitors think of the news that their time looking at art will positively impact their wellbeing?

Charlie, 10, from London said: “It makes me feel quite calm, and it draws me in.”

His dad Patrick, who had brought Charlie with his two young brothers to see the exhibition, added: “Looking at them on screens, or even in books, you just don’t get the full impression.”

Taeseok, an arts student from Amsterdam visiting the UK for the first time, said it felt good to stand and focus on just one thing, with no distractions. He summed it up: “Things around you start to not matter at all… It’s just you and the artwork.”

Re-framed as a course of treatment instead of an indulgent pastime, could the hard edge of science change the role galleries play in society?

If so, it could be a fitting reminder to the government of the true power of art, at a time when so many institutions are struggling to survive.

Thieves have stolen more than 1,000 items from a museum’s collection in California, including jewellery, carvings and Native American artefacts.

The burglary took place at an off-site storage facility holding items for the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) on 15 October.

The museum’s director said on Thursday details about the incident were being made public because the items might show up at flea markets, pawn shops and antique stores.

“The theft that occurred represents a brazen act that robs the public of our state’s cultural heritage,” said Lori Fogarty.

“They’re not just a loss to the museum. They’re a loss to the public, to our community and we’re hoping our community can help us bring them home.”

She also said she believed it was an opportunistic crime, rather than a targeted raid.

“We think the thieves found a way to enter the building, and they grabbed what they could easily find and snatch and get out of the building with,” she said.

A metal neckpiece by the late artist Florence Resnikoff, scrimshaw walrus tusks and Native American baskets were taken, with the thieves also making off with historic memorabilia like pins and sporting items.

Experts believe some items may have already been sold.

John Romero, a retired police captain, told the Los Angeles Times he expects detectives are looking at resale platforms such as Craigslist and Ebay, as well as networks specialising in historic or collectable goods.

“These people are interested in fast cash, not the full appraisal value,” he said. “They need to get rid of it quickly.”

Oakland Police Department is working with a specialist art crime unit of the FBI to track down the items.

Read more from Sky News:
Trump accused of ‘new low point’ with refugee order
Holiday hotspot airport close to cancelling all landings

The OMCA’s mission is to document the art, history and natural environment of the Golden State.

Its collection carries works by famous Californian artists from the 18th century to present day.

The theft at the OMCA took place four days before the brazen jewellery heist at the Louvre museum in France.

Thieves broke into the world-famous Paris museum while it was open to visitors on 19 October and made off with several Napoleonic crown jewels.

Authorities have made five arrests but the stolen items have not yet been recovered.

They were one of the main staples of noughties music in the UK and Ireland and to celebrate 25 years of touring, Westlife have returned to the spotlight again.

The boy band has released a new song called Chariot, with an album following suit in February and a tour that will take them around the world next year.

“The Westlife story is fairy tale stuff and we’re very lucky and proud to be part of it”, Shane Filan tells Sky News at the Royal Albert Hall, where they have just performed for two nights.

“It took our breath away. We came out to the Royal Albert Hall thinking it might be a little bit more intimate than a big arena and just the sheer noise, the sheer screams from the women and everyone just having good fun.

“The support and love, we never felt it like we did in the room. It was amazing.”

Formed by their manager Louis Walsh in the late 1990s, the group originally consisted of Filan, Mark Feehily, Brian McFadden, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan.

McFadden left the group in 2004 to pursue a solo career, but the other four have remained together.

Due to health issues, Feehily can’t join the celebrations, but representatives say he is still very much part of the band and features on their new music and upcoming album.

History-making chart successes

Westlife are joint third with Sir Cliff Richard and Ed Sheeran for the most UK number one singles in history, just behind Elvis and The Beatles.

In their first 18 months, they secured seven of those top spots thanks to songs like Flying Without Wings, I Have A Dream and If I Let You Go.

Reflecting on the years gone by, Byrne says the nostalgia hits harder than ever.

“You see the generations coming to the shows, people letting their hair down, people remembering the songs from their first kiss, the first dance, all those special things that music does,” he says.

“Not even just for the fans – we’re having the time of our lives.

“We’re singing these songs up there… I remember breaking the wardrobe door when we were promoting Swear It Again, and now we’re singing it in front of the Royal Albert Hall and look, I mean, just look at this place.”

Famous fans and furniture

For Byrne, finding out about fans of their music never gets old, and their song Flying Without Wings seems to be a key component of their stature in music.

“I did Soccer Aid with Tom Grennan recently, and he was talking all about how he grew up listening to Westlife – his dad is Irish. Big Zuu, who scored the winning goal, he was like, ‘Flying Without Wings, man, is the best song I’ve ever heard’.”

It’s the same song Sheeran first learned to play guitar on, and years later, he began writing songs for the group, including their latest single Chariot.

Oddly, it’s their choice in furniture that receives just as much attention as their music over the years, with four stools becoming synonymous with the group.

Stemming from their lack of dancing skills, according to Simon Cowell at least, they chose to change it up and simply rise from their chair on the key change of the song.

“We are stool connoisseurs. It’s become a very strange thing and it’s nearly as big as our music. It’s genuinely as big as You Raise Me Up,” Filan laughs.

Keeping their kids grounded

As the band continued to release music, each member settled down and had families of their own. Now their children are around the same age they were when they first started as a group.

Egan says they all made a conscious decision to raise the next generation away from the spotlight.

“We don’t want our kids growing up in this world and at the end of the day they are privileged, so it’s really important for us to keep them grounded and to try and give them as much of a natural kind of upbringing as they possibly can, and I think that’s why we choose to bring them up in the same places that we grew up,” he adds.

Byrne chimes in jokingly: “Slightly bigger houses, though!”

It was this tour that caused Byrne’s children to realise the extent of their father’s fame.

“I have twin boys who are 18 and a half, and the middle girl is 12. So last week, when the tour went on sale in Ireland, and we went from five nights in the 3Arena to 13, and from Belfast it went from three right up to seven, and the boys are looking at me, going, ‘You’re doing 13 nights in the 3Arena’.

“And it is even me looking at them going, ‘Yeah, right’. It hits you, it hits you there in a way, to be honest with you. I got a little bit cooler then.”

Read more from Sky News:
Five new arrests in Louvre heist investigation
John Cleese leads tributes to Fawlty Towers star

Running from September 2026, Westlife 25 – The Anniversary World Tour, will kick off in Dublin for 13 shows before heading to Aberdeen, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, London, Brighton, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and then Belfast for seven nights.

Gigs in Paris, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Cologne and Zurich will follow.

Tickets for Westlife’s UK tour dates go on sale this Friday.