A feminist Pirelli calendar and the rise of Donald Dump

This article titled “A feminist Pirelli calendar and the rise of Donald Dump – the week in art” was written by Jonathan Jones, for theguardian.com on Friday 4th December 2015 17.00 UTC

Exhibition of the week

Europe 1600-1815
These new galleries at the V&A cover one of the most spectacular periods of European art, architecture, design and fashion, from the baroque to the age of Napoleon. They ought to be fabulous.
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London SW7, from 9 December.

Other exhibitions this week

Anne Hardy: Field
Hardy’s “landscapes” use everyday objects, found materials and photography to represent space and time.
• Modern Art Oxford, until 10 January.

Maisons Fragiles
Louise Bourgeois, Isa Genzken and Eva Hesse are among the modern giants in this group show about architecture and vulnerability.
• Hauser and Wirth, London W1, from 11 December to 6 February.

Essex Road II
A piece about Joe Orton by Uriel Orlow is among the eight artists’ films in this show that also stars Jordan Baseman, Melanie Manchot and Helen Benigson.
• Tintype, London N1, from 10 December to 16 January

Transformation
A celebration of cross-dressing, all taken from the wardrobe of Peter Farrer – who was born in 1926 and has been cross-dressing since he was a teen – amid one of Britain’s finest collections of art.
• Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, until February 2017

Masterpiece of the week

Perseus Turning Phineas and His Followers to Stone, by Luca Giordano (1632-1705). Photograph: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Luca Giordano – Perseus Turning Phineas and His Followers to Stone (early 1680s)
Flesh turns grey and bodies freeze in this eerie painting. Perseus, having slain and beheaded the gorgon Medusa, holds up her gory head as a weapon that can turn his enemies to stone. Giordano plays on energy and stillness, life and death, in this spectacular masterpiece of the baroque age.
• National Gallery, London WC2