Cathy's Art Diary

Another excellent study morning from Paula Nuttall looking at drawings from the Netherlands in the 15th and 16th centuries to compliment the exhibition at the British Museum. Nuttall talked us thought the reasons why drawings were made and the techniques and materials used. She spent a lot of time talking about how drawings were used in artists’ workshops and looked in particular at the nine works by or from the workshop of Roger Van de Weyden. In each case she talked about the function of the drawing and highlighted any paintings which derived from them. We then looked at how drawings were used for work on different media as a design tool covering tapestry, prints, stained glass, sculpture and manuscripts. This was also a useful way of introducing these different media in the period. Finally she looked at the later years when ideas from Italy started to creep into the work from classical ideas to Italian landscapes done by artists on their travels. I had seen the show shortl...

Exquisite exhibition at the British Museum of Netherlandish drawings from 1400 to 1600. I love this period in Northern Renaissance art and this show didn't disappoint. Starting with the early works done as preparatory studies for workshops through to drawings made as works of art in their own right, they were shown with excellent explanations. This initial trip was a fairly quick one but I still managed to photograph most of the works! I'll definitely be going back particularly as I'll doing a course on it in a couple of weeks. The works were beautifully shown in the Print Room Gallery which gives you a shelf to lean on to study the detail, and what a lot of detail there was! I think my favourite was a procession by the workshop of Roger Van de Weyden with stunningly real faces. I also liked two kneeling ladies from the workshop of Hugo van der Goes. From the later period I loved a portrait of a older lady by Frans Pourbus and a print design by Pieter Bruegel the Eld...

An excellent online course from Paula Nutall examining the life and work of the 15th century artist Piero Della Francesca. As ever Paula was clear and methodical and overran gloriously. In week one we looked at the work Piero did for his hometown Borgo Sansepolcro and the surrounding area as well as for his own house. I was fascinated to hear the National Gallery’s Nativity by him was painted for his own house and that a figure of Hercules was also found there. Paula also talked about his influences linking a lot to work and events he may have seen when he was in Florence. In week two we looked in depth at the fresco cycle of the True Cross in Arezzo. Again I remember seeing it and it was wonderful to look at it in detail and study the stories and iconography. Finally in week 3 we looked at his work for various courts in particular Urbino, although we touched on his work for the papal court and thought about what may have influenced him there. She also outlined work he did at oth...

Excellent online lecture from the National Gallery looking at the life and work of Giovanni Bellini. Jo Walton, guided us through the career of this 15th century artist from Venice starting with his training in his father’s studio alongside his brother, Gentile and discusses the use of their father’s collection of drawings. She took us though his devotional works and his major altarpieces. We also looked at his amazing portraits. She analysed the main works with an emphasis on those held by the gallery itself. I am going to spend a couple of month’s in Venice later this year and suspect I will go into trainspotter mode to tick off all the Bellini’s there.

Excellent online course from Paula Nuttall on the 15 th century Florentine artist Fra Angelico. Week one Paula introduced to the artist and placed him in the of the city at the time discussing his influences from Lorenzo Monaco, Masaccio and Gilberti. She also looked at the impact of the theorist Alberti on his work. We looked at Fra Angelico’s early altarpieces. Week two we concentrated on his work for the monastery of San Marco discussing how the commission came about through Cosimo de Medici’s worries about his immortal soul and his friendship with Pope Eugenius IV who was living in Florence at the time. We started by looking at the altarpiece for the then moving in the dormitories looking in detail at the fresco’s in the cells there. Most fascinating was hearing about the different style of designs for the novices, clerics and lay brothers. In the final week we looked at commissions outside of San Marco and covered in some detail Fra Angelico’s years in Rome. I hadn’t know a...

Fascinating online lecture from the Wallace Collection looking at Maiolica ceramics. Suzanne Higgott, who had previously worked at the museum, led us though the history of Maiolica using the collection as the bones of the talk. I have been wanting to dip my toe into this world for a while and this was an excellent introduction to the subject. She started by discussing its origins and influences then looking at how it was made, talking us through the process of glazing and adding lustre. Next we worked through the main centres of production in Northern Italy and some of the more famous workshops. She showed us some beautiful examples and used them to introduce the main themes of decoration. I was interested to see how many were based on prints and how the topics reflected were the same as paintings of the time. She ended by discussing the 19th century revival which led to reproductions some of which were passed off as originals and collectors and museums vied to get the best pi...

Fascinating online lecture from the National Gallery focusing on a new acquisition and putting it into context. Melissa Baksh, a freelance art historian, described the new 15th century acquisition “The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret” which I am slightly obsessed by. She shared than dendrochronology has dated the panel to 1480 and it is Baltic oak which was frequently used in the Low Countries. It was first documented at a monastery in Ghent. The artists hasn’t been identified but she led us though some clues to its origin. She looked at the image in some detail explaining details in the St Margaret figure which come from the Golden Legend, how the order of St Michael wears is dated from before 1516 and how the architectural capitals are Old Testament scenes. She looked in particular at the dragon or monster which takes centre stage under the feet of St Margaret who has vanquished it. She put it into the context of Northern European art at the time from early bes...

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery discussing their German collection and how it has been displayed in the new rehang. Matthew Morgan interviewed the curator of German paintings, Christine Seidel. They were quick to point of that for most of the period covered by the gallery Germany did not exist as a single country but as a series of city states ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. They also noted that the gallery has the best collection of work from the area outside a German speaking region. They talked about how there is only one room dedicated to German art and that is in the Sainsbury wing covering 1500-1600 and includes Cranach and Altdorfer. Seidel looked in particular at the latter’s altarpiece “Christ Taking Leave of His Mother”. They discussed why the gallery’s work by Durer appear in the Venetian room of the Sainsbury Wing and talked about his trips to Venice and the effect they had on his art and that of the local artists. They moved into the main gal...

Clear and useful lecture at the Wallace Collection tracing Flemish art form Memling to Rubens. Richard Williams from the Royal Collection Trust used three works from the Wallace Collection, Memling’s “Angle with a Sword”, Pieter Pourbus’s “Allegory of True Love” and Rubens’ “The Holy Family with St Elizabeth and John the Baptist” to anchor the lecture over three sessions. He started with discussing what the Flemish tradition was and then looked at how Memling worked within this but also took it further. He looked at how Italian patrons commissioned work from him. He moved into the 16th century and looked at how Gossaert was influenced by his trip to Rome in 1508 with Philip of Burgundy. We looked at how more Italian art was appearing in Brussels such as the Raphael cartoons which were in the city at the time with the tapestry weavers and how this influenced artists. That session ended by looking at the Pourbus painting and the Italian and Humanist influences in it. The talk en...

Beautiful lecture at the National Gallery looking at how music was depicted in art in the Renaissance focusing on the role of the courts. I had enjoyed the first part of this series of talks so was pleased I could make the second and have how now booked the third. Belle Smith started with this painting by Lorenzo Costa from the gallery's collection and talked us though the instruments shown and the fact the subjects are singing. I know the picture well but had never thought about how the outer figures are tapping along to the music on the table. The lecturer for the next talk was in the audience and as a lute player he brought fascinating insight into the how the instrument is being played here, with figures rather than a quill plectrum, and how that was a new development at the time. The talk diverted a bit with the self-portraits of Lavina Fontana and Sofonisba Anguissolo who are both shown playing a spinet emphasising their ladylike status and intellect but his led to a dis...

Magical lecture at in the Supporters’ House at the National Gallery looking at how music is depicted in paintings of the 13th to 15th centuries. Belle Smith talked us though a selection of paintings from the gallery, describing the instruments which are shown and playing examples of the sound they would have made. She also looked at how music changed in this period moving from plainsong to polyphonic works. She discussed how the music shown in the works reflected theological ideas not necessarily the music would have been heard in the services in which the paintings would have been seen. In particular paintings of the Coronation of the Virgin which show ideas of divine harmony. It was lovely follow the talk by going up to the first floor of the Sainsbury Wing to look at the works which had been discussed. This was the first of a series of talks on music and art and I hope to get some of the rest.

Charming online lecture from ARTscapades looking at the life of Isabella D’Este, the Renaissance patron of the arts. Sarah Dunant, introduced her new novel on Isabella, based on her extensive research in the archives in Mantua which holdover 30,000 of her letters. She took us thorough Isabella’s life with readings from her book. Given her audience, Dunant, concentrated on Isabella’s art collecting and building projects including her studiolo. She explained how she liked a bargain and would look further afield that Rome to buy ancient artefacts. Since listening to the talk I have read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d been looking for a good biography of Isabella for a while and this format felt accurate and a novel format made it more approachable to read. I loved the way she gave Isabella a voice, both from using the real text of her letters and making her a ghostly voice in the archive. This gave Dunant the chance to also look at changing approaches to history and to Isa...

Intriguing online lecture from the London Art History Society focusing on a specific chapel in Avignon Cathedral. Geoff Nuttall led us through this chapel and specifically the fresco outside it from around 1430. He told us about the family to whom it was dedicated and specifically about the father, Carlo Spiafame who had come to the city in 1385 from Lucca as part of a banking family, to service the papal court which was based there at the time. He talked about how the court brought Italian artists to the city but he thought the fresco was by a French artist who was influenced by them, possibly Jacques Iverny. He also speculated that they may have seen the Belles Heures de Duc du Berry as the Baptism scene is very similar and the Spiafame family had been involved in valuing his possessions on his death. He discussed the strange iconography of including donors in a scene of the Baptism of Christ and said this was the only example of that that he knew. He also pointed out that don...

Excellent online lecture from Geoff Nuttall looking in detail at the “Tres Riches Heures” of the Duc du Berry. The talk marked an exhibition at the Musee Conde in Chantilly which will only be the second time the pages have been displayed since being rediscovered in the 1850s. The manuscript was a large book of hours by the Limbourg brothers (Herman, Paul and Jean) and was left unfinished at the death of the patron in 1416. The first half of the morning looked at the Duc du Berry, focusing on his role as a patron. We looked in detail at the palaces, chapels and fortresses he built on his lands which are shown in the wonderful illustrations of the labours of the month in the manuscript. The second then looked at the work of the brothers highlighting other work done by them, a bible for Philip the Bold and a smaller book of hours for Berry. He placed them within the art of the period both in France and Italy before looking at the specific style of this work and where some of the ide...

Comprehensive and fascinating four week online course from Paula Nuttall on the Sistine Chapel. As ever with Paula the talk was clear and well thought out with good illustrations. As usual she overran gloriously! Week one we looked at the early frescos after setting the scene and looking at the design of the chapel itself. I love the frescos but never thought about how the project was co-ordinated to give a consistency across the work of multiple artists. Paula’s theory was that Perugino was the master having already been working in Rome and as he painted the most prominent frescos and the altarpiece. Week 2 we looked up to the next stage of the decoration and Michelangelo’s ceiling. I had recently done a course on the young Michelangelo with Paula so this felt like an extension of that. We looked at how the artist painted this massive undertaking from its inception to its unveiling. I was particular interested in the section on his influences. Week 3 was Raphael’s tapestries a...

Excellent online lecture from the London Art History Society looking at the 15th century German sculptor, Tilman Riemenschneider. It was refreshing to hear about an artist, medium and place that I knew very little about. I could relate it to other art that I know but the specifics were all new to me. This was made all the easier by Thomas Abbott’s clear style and beautiful illustrations. Abbott started by outlining Riemenschneider’s life and influences then limited talking about is career to the three masterpiece altars which allowed him to talk about them in some detail. I thought this was a good approach to take to a lesser known artist as it gave you a flavour but left you wanting more and wanting a trip to Germany to see them in situ.

Impressive exhibition at the King’s Gallery looking at Italian Renaissance drawings from the Royal Collection. The show struck a good balance between appealing to the art history geeks like me and being more popularist by including three artists in residence and tables for you to draw at within the show. I liked the way the show was themed, focusing on the subjects of the drawings ranging from studies of bodies, though nature, religious and secular compositional studies and designs for objects. Complimenting this they discussed why and how drawings were made. I liked the small displays of artists materials throughout the show. One moan, which is a common one for me, was the way the lighting reflected off the glass, making it hard to see the detail without seeing lights or looking at yourself! Highlights were this wonderfully complex Guilo Romano tapestry design, a beautiful portrait by Fra Angelico, a study for the Raphael Vatican tapestry using figures in contemporary dress a...

Fascinating online lecture from Christ’s College, Cambridge looking in detail at a medieval cup in their collection linked to their founder, Lady Margaret Beaufort. Mary Franklin, honorary keeper of the college’s plate, outlined her current research on the cup starting by looking at its original owner, Duke Humphrey, son, brother and uncle of Henry IV, V and VI and how its iconography links to him and the Lancastrian cause. We then looked in detail at the plants shown on the cup and their symbolic meanings from oak leaves to Forget-Me-Nots. She discussed an unidentified leaf which she speculated could be Rocket or Moonwort both of which could bring subtly different interpretations of the work.   She also discussed how cups like these would have been used at feasts and their role in showing magnificence , defined as “fitting expenditure on a great thing”. I had seen the cup in the British Museum’s Medieval Women exhibition but did revisit the show after this talk and felt I...

Excellent three week online course from Paul Nutall looking in detail at the first thirty years of Michelangelo’s career. As ever Paula was very clear with excellent illustrations and quotes. Of course she ran over time but she always does and that’s part of the fun of her courses. Week one we looked at Michelangelo’s life until he left for Rome in 1496, a short period he spent in Bologna and the first few years after he arrived in Rome. We discussed how we know so much about him, what his influences were and where he might have trained, even if he claimed he hadn’t. Week two concentrated on the early masterpieces in Rome the Bacchus and the Pieta shown here then the David made on his return to Florence and the Bruges Madonna. We also looked at other work done in this period between these iconic works such at the National Gallery’s two panel paintings. Finally week three looked at his years back in Florence and in particular the battle of the battle scenes for the Palazzo Vecch...

Pragmatic and fascinating online lecture from the Courtauld Research Forum looking at the 15th century artist working in Urbino, Justus of Ghent. Paula Nuttall guided us clearly through the life of the artist and various theories about his identity. There is some discussion that he may actually have been a Spanish artist, Pedro Berruguete who had possibly trained in the Netherlands. She then looked in detail at the paintings from Urbino which were attributed to Justus looking at their style and techniques. She discussed the fact that the paintings are in a poor condition and the technique is often not as pure as in the Netherlands. She theorised, in a pragmatic way, that this may be down to having to teach the methods to Italians in his workshop who were not as skilled as him. She also suggested it may have been due to his patron, Federico de Montefeltro’s demand for a large amount of work which didn’t suit the slow drying oil paints. She also discussed how in turn Justus may ha...