Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting online lecture from the Royal Collection introducing an exhibition on James VI of Scotland and I of England at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Kate Anderson, from the National Galleries of Scotland, talked us through the narrative of the show and highlighted some key exhibits with an emphasis on items lent by the Royal Collection. The show divides into the king’s time in Scotland and England and his influence in Europe and the world. She talked about his regency, as he came to the throne of Scotland aged just 13 months when his mother was forced to abdicate, and there were some touching exhibits from his childhood such as a letter from him aged about 6 to the Countess of Mar. I was most excited to see that the portraits of his children, Prince Henry, Charles I and Princess Elizabeth, later Queen of Bohemia, by Robert Peake have been reunited and that seems to be just one of many reasons to try to get to the show.

Intriguing online lecture from ARTscapades looking at Italian art in the Royal Collection and how it got there. Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures from 2005 to 2021 led us clearly through the topic with an emphasis on what, how and why the monarchs bought. We spent the first half looking at Charles I’s collection and I really enjoyed a section where we looked at where all the major works hung at Whitehall Palace. This led to a discussion on what Charles II reacquired on his restoration. In the second half we looked at the late Stuart’s and Georgians noting how taste for Italian art changed and the prevalence of anything the style of Raphael. The only major purchase came under George III when he bought the collection of John Smith, the British consul in Venice and agent to Canaletto. We finished by looking at Prince Albert’s love of early art such as a Duccio Triptych for which he made a frame.

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...

Interesting online lecture from the Royal Collections Trust discussing how royal portrait photographs have been used in newspapers. The talk accompanied the exhibition at the King’s Gallery marking a century of royal portrait photographs. Helen Lewandowski talked about how photographs were adapted for use in the press. She talked about the decisions over what image was to be used and how it might be tweaked. She also talked about how the technology of both photography and printing changed and the effect this had. She also talked about the relationship between the sitters and the photographers focusing on Cecil Beaton, Dorothy Wilding and Lord Snowdon and how the royal family have used photographs to change their image over the years.

Fascinating online lecture from London Art Week looking at the discovery of a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi in the Royal Collection. The talk brought together those involved in the rediscovery and experts on Artemisia to discuss how the painting was identified and why it is an important rediscovery. Niko Munz, Christchurch College Oxford, described how, while working as part of a project to catalogue and trace works owned by Charles I , he flicked through some files of royal pictures and found an old catalogue sheet from 1862 which had a dull photograph of the work linking the work to Charles and mentioning Artemesia. He then checked old inventories which showed it had hung in Henrietta Maria’s rooms and might have been part of a design to prompt the Catholic faith. Adelaide Izal, conservator for the Royal Collection, then took us though the historical and technical evidence from confirming that it did date from the period when Artemisia was in England, that it was painted i...