Young Masters

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery looking at picture in their collection by artists at the start of their careers.

Nick Pace, gallery educator, took us through six artists from Masaccio in the 15th century to Sir Thomas Lawrence in the 18th. I must admit I got a phone call during his section on Van Dyck so I am am still a bit hazy on his early work except that I know he famously trained under Rubens.

I hadn’t realised that Velazquez was only 19 when he painted the kitchen scene with an image of Christ in the House of Martha and Mary in one corner. Pace talked us through the complexity of the work which is astonishing for someone so young. Similarly, Raphael’s “An Allegory (Vision of a Knight)” painted when he was 21 shows a remarkably complex symbolism.

I am enjoying these themes talks which take you across a chronological cross section of the collection and make you look at familiar pictures from different viewpoints.

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