Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting  online lecture from the National Gallery looking at some of their major restoration projects over the years. Nick Pace took us through five pictures detailing the work that had been done one them with good illustrations of them at various stages of the process. Surprisingly he started with Holbein’s “The Ambassadors” which looks so fresh and new but he pointed out that in the 1970s it was a much darker work and at some point the planks had actually parted company. The most fascinating section looked at the Trinity Altarpiece by Francesco   Pesellino and Filippo Lippi which came to the gallery in 6 different sections starting with the figure of Christ and God the Father in the centre. Two saints on the left are still officially owned by the Royal Collections yet the work now looks like one seamless altarpiece. It was nice to also look at Manet’s “Execution of Maximillian” which entered the National Gallery collection in fragments from the Degas auction when ...

Innovative online lecture from the National Gallery looking at how artists have embraced science and how they have depicted it. Nick Pace took us on an interesting journey through the scientific endeavours of Leonardo Da Vinci and Durer from their studies and prints of drawing devises through their anatomical and botanical works and Leonardo’s geological studies. He then turned to the Enlightenment and in particular Joseph Wright of Derby to look at how artists of that time depicted new scientific developments. It is always good to revisit Wright of Derby’s work and it was nice to discover a new work by Jacques Louis David of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier and Marie Anne Lavoisier from The Met showing the couple with their scientific equipment.

Novel online lecture from the National Gallery on five sets of four pictures in their collection. Nick Pace took us through these sets and discussed each in some detail. He looked at “Scenes from Tebaldo’s Ecolgues” – Andrea Prevatalli about 1505, Napoleonic battles by Emile-Jean-Horace Vernet from the 1820s, “Four Times of the Day “ - Jean Baptiste Corot from 1858, “Four Elements “– Joachim Beuchelaer from 1569-70 and “Four Allegories of Love” – Paulo Veronese from 1575. This was a fascinating selection as they were all such different dates and styles. It was a clever way of talking about the different artists and techniques.

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.