Cathy's Art Diary

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...

Useful online lecture from the London Art History Society looking at the different reasons artists drew in the Renaissance. Grant Lewis from the British Museum proposed that as well as drawing being a way of working out compositions and for use within the studio as artists tried to enhance their prestige they became collectable by patrons. He outlined Vasari’s principle of disegno or design and how being able to see the intellectual thought behind a work became important in raising the status of artists. Lewis showed us how some artists, including Raphael, made works which looked like spontaneous preparatory work but were actually   constructed with underdrawings which were rubbed out. They were playing with these ideals and using the drawings as an act of performance. He also talked about how a market developed for finished drawings with some by Michelangelo talking up to 6 months to produce although he also told us about Luca Cambiaso whose drawings were so popular he set ...

Useful online lecture from the National Gallery focusing on the “Arnolfini Portrait” by Van Eyck. For many years I had a copy of this painting on my student room walls so I feel I know it well. What I didn’t know much about was how it got to the National Gallery and the effect it had on other artists. Jenny Graham, from the University of Plymouth and author of a book on the artist, took us through both those topics as well as looking at who the subjects might be. I think the most interesting part was tracing where the painting had been since it first appeared in an inventory of Margaret of Austria in 1516 until it was bought by the National Gallery in 1843. She addressed the ambiguity of how it came to England post-Napoleonic wars feeling it was probably looted from Spain. I got a bit confused by the section on the influence of other artists as we seemed to look in detail at the Pre-Raphaelites in the first session then return to the topic both with them and other artists of the...

Well-constructed online lecture from the National Churches Trust looking at the 15th and 16th century phenomena of cadaver tombs in England. I have always been fascinated by these tombs since seeing that of Alice de la Pole in Ewelme as a child. Morgan Ellis Leah from the Trust’s engagement team described a selection of them and developed the argument that in England these were not corpses and a memento mori but instead represented the starvation of the soul and show emaciated bodies. She looked at the turbulent history of the period due to wars, poor crops an economic crisis post Black Death. She pointed out that one effect of the plague was a shortage of chaplains which led to people relying on themselves for spiritual support and turning back to old ideas. She also talked about the tradition of eating at burial sites dating back to the Romans and idea of Sin Eating as well as the inclusion of dishes and food in Saxon burials.

Excellent online study morning from Paula and Geoff Nuttall looking at the history and art of Naples from the 13th to 15th century. Geoff started the morning by looking at the Angevin’s who ruled the city from 1266 to 1435 guiding us through the complicated order of succession covering both the early French Angevins and the later Durazzo branch of the family from Hungary and Croatia. He outlined their building work in the city and looked in particular at the patronage of the civil servants around King Ladislav. I was delighted that he spent quite a lot of time talking about the tomb shown here for Admiral Antonio Baboccio de Piperno which I had discovered a few years ago and loved but I didn’t know a lot about it. He talked us through the imagery in some detail. Paula then took over looking at the Aragonese rulers of the city from 1442 to about 1504 focusing on Alfonso I including his work to rebuild the Castel Nuovo, his commissioned of medals from Pisanello, his interest in Nor...

Comprehensive online course from Paula Nuttall on the life and work of the 15th century artist, Botticelli. As ever Nuttall delivered a clear narrative with great illustrations and good analysis of the art works. She began in the first week with a run through of Botticelli’s life from his early training as a goldsmith, through his work on the Sistine Chapel and his great works on his return to Florence. She discussed the context of the times he lived in and how he adapted to the political and religious turmoil.   Week two we concentrated on the famous mythological works looking at who they were painted for and where. We spent some time how groundbreaking they were and what texts they might be based on. She emphasized the artists design skills and intelligence as a visualiser of poetry. The final week moved to the religious works taking us through the artists major altarpieces for Florence and his role in popularising devotional pictures of the Virgin and Chid. We spent some t...

Interesting online lecture from ARTscapades looking at the recent exhibition at the National Gallery focusing on Pesellino. I had already done a talk by the curator and the lady who restored the two main panels in the show as well as seeing the show itself but this lecture was being done by Richard Stemp and it’s always worth hearing his take on a subject. The added insight he brought was to compare the two panels in the life of David in the show to the chapel of the Magi by Gozzoli in the Medici Palace which I love. Rather than my assumption that Pesellino had been inspired by the later Stemp pointed out that the chapel was of a later date so Gozzoli was probably influenced by the panels which were possibly made for the new palace rather than to ark a wedding.   A complex argument but anything Medici related has me hooked. He also took us through the other works in the show, clearly telling the stories in the small   predella panels and discussing how the Pistoia Santa...

Fascinating exhibition at the National Gallery looking at the 15th century Florentine artist Francesco Pesellino. I’d done a useful online talk about the show a few days ago which really illuminated the show. It was based around two panels on the stories of David which the gallery owns and has recently been conserved. I love the detail in them and a long time studying them. Pesellino was best known for his small works and was known as a book illuminator but he did also do altarpieces, one of which is in the show albeit that it was finished by Fra Filippo Lippi on his death. it was lovely to have the small works hung at eye level. Closed 10 March 2024 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph

Fascinating online lecture from the National Gallery introducing their exhibition on the 15th century artist Pesellino. The show marks the conservation of two panels on the story of David by Pesellino and the talk brought together Laura Llewellyn, the curator of the show and Jill Dunkerton who had worked on the conservation. Llewellyn talked us through the other works in the show and outlined what we know about the artists short life describing their technique and content. She focused in particular on the galleries own Pistoia Santa Trinita altarpiece which had been cut up in the 19th century and entered the collection incrementally in pieces. Dunkerton then talked about how she conserved the two David panels and what she learnt from the process. She talked about the quality and amount of gold work on them, how she had managed to reveal it and the effect it would have had. Having just done a course on Lorenzo de Medici I was fascinated her theory that they were painted as part o...

Another excellent three-week online course from Paul Nuttall on Lorenzo de Medici. As ever Paula overran dramatically but we all know she’s going to and look forward to her enthusiasm taking over. She always develops a clear narrative to her talks while throwing in the latest research and some of the philosophy behind the works she is showing. Week one focused on the life of this 15th century figure who epitomises the Renaissance to us. She took us through his life using wonderful images to drive the story. Week two we moved to look at Lorenzo at home and what he owned. Paula based the structure on the inventory of his palace made on his death and walked us around it pointing out what was there, again with great images of what still exists. It was particularly interesting to think about what he’d inherited and what he acquired. Finally we looked at Lorenzo as an influencer and how he used he artistic reputation of Florence to enhance the reputation of the city and how other cit...

Interesting online lecture from ARTscapades re-interpreting the Renaissance. Jonathon Jones, the art critic of the Guardian, outlined his new book of the same title as the lecture leading us through his arguments that the Renaissance was a time when people’s minds turned to pleasure and away from the Medieval despair and a focus on the next life. He saw perspective as the means by which artists could express these ideas and the merchants who commissioned the art as the drivers of it. He discussed how the period saw the rediscovery of the nude in art and how classical writings and myths drove a new eroticism. Having done a lot of Renaissance studies, I enjoyed the arguments and recognised many of them however the talk and book have been billed as a re-interpretation and I’m not sure I found that from the talk. Maybe I need to read the book to get more.  

Interesting exhibition at the National Gallery of six panels of Andrea Mantegna’s “Triumph of Caesar” fresco cycle. The works are on loan from the Royal Collection while their gallery at Hampton Court is being refurbished. They were bought from the Gonzaga family of Mantua by Charles I in 1629. For this show the six panels have been beautifully reframed by the National Gallery Framing Department. It was a lovely touch to show a cast of the bust from Mantegna’s tomb and Ruben’s sketch for “A Roman Triumph” based   on two of the panels which he saw in situ in Mantua. It’s always great to see this lively and theatrical piece and setting it in a new context makes you look at it with fresh eyes. Closes 2026 Review Guardian