Ruminate on Ruins

Thoughtful online lecture from the National Gallery looking at the power of ruins in art.

Christina Bradstreet took us though pictures from the gallery’s collection that represented the three moods she thought ruins can portray, happy, carefree and calm; brooding melancholy and frightening. Fortunately, most of the pictures we looked at fell into the first category which led to a light afternoon.

I was interested in some Dutch Gold Age pictures she showed us which looked like simple landscapes but included references to the Dutch wars of the 17th century so had messages about peace and resistance.  These included a Cuyp without any cows!

I was introduced to lots of works I didn’t know including this nightmarish picture by Francois de Nomé “Fantastic Ruins with St Augustine and The Child” from 1623 with statues falling off buildings and a mix of real and imagined ruins with two small figures showing the sheer scale of this ancient world.

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