Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is an eloquently considered exhibition that wondrously conveys the atmosphere and decor of a living, breathing Renaissance city. From monumental public sculptures and fountain pieces to devotional reliefs lined wall to wall, it offers a surprisingly immersive experience conducive to understanding the functions ofContinue reading “REVIEW | Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance – Victoria and Albert Museum, London”
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THE BIG REVIEW | Raphael – National Gallery, London
For a concise review of The Credit Suisse Exhibition: RAPHAEL, please click here. The Early Umbrian Years Opening the National Gallery show is an elusive, faintly drawn portrait of a young boy whose features are generally believed to be that of a 15/16-year-old Raphael (British Museum, London). His eyes show an ambition and determination thatContinue reading “THE BIG REVIEW | Raphael – National Gallery, London”
REVIEW | Giulio Romano. La Forza delle Cose (The Power of Things) – Palazzo Te, Mantua
‘This credenza…is adorned with festoons of verdure and flowers, and all covered with vines laden with bunches of grapes and leaves, under which are three rows of bizarre vases, basins, drinking-cups, tazze, goblets, and other things of that kind in various forms and fantastic shapes, and so lustrous, that they seem to be of realContinue reading “REVIEW | Giulio Romano. La Forza delle Cose (The Power of Things) – Palazzo Te, Mantua”
REVIEW | The Art of Experiment: Parmigianino at The Courtauld – The Courtauld Gallery, London
The Art of Experiment is a beautiful little show devoted to The Courtauld’s small but significant holdings of works by Parmigianino. Comprising 24 autograph sheets of drawings, about half are on display to represent the artist’s extraordinary frescoes, altarpieces, and prints. It’s quite humbling to see here some studies for the artist’s most famous paintings,Continue reading “REVIEW | The Art of Experiment: Parmigianino at The Courtauld – The Courtauld Gallery, London”
REVIEW | Raphael – National Gallery, London
The Credit Suisse Exhibition: RAPHAEL at the National Gallery, London, is not your typical survey of the artist’s works. Instead, it is a silver sampling dish featuring every aspect of Raphael’s artistic personality. Consisting of a rigorously selected portion of autograph works, the exhibition succeeds in balancing some of the highlights of his career withContinue reading “REVIEW | Raphael – National Gallery, London”
THE BIG REVIEW | Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing – The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace
Out of the world’s collections of Leonardo da Vinci drawings, the Royal Collection’s holdings are the largest, totalling an impressive 550 sheets. For the 500th anniversary celebrations of the artist’s death, a third of these were exhibited at 12 simultaneous venues in the UK, before being reunited in a major exhibition at The Queen’s GalleryContinue reading “THE BIG REVIEW | Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing – The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace”
‘My dearest compare’: Michelangelo & Sebastiano
‘All the discords that arose between Pope Julius and me were owing to the envy of Bramante and Raphael of Urbino […] And Raphael had good reason to be envious, since what he knew of art he learnt from me.’ (Michelangelo from Rome to an unknown addressee, October-November 1542) What do you get when youContinue reading “‘My dearest compare’: Michelangelo & Sebastiano”
Louvre Abu Dhabi – a new collection awaits
The art world is about to get a little bit more exciting as the Louvre opens the doors to a new museum in Abu Dhabi in December 2015. The Louvre Abu Dhabi seeks to be a universal museum, embracing cross-cultural similarities instead of differences with its newly-bought collection. The Musée du Louvre’s Louvre Abu Dhabi:Continue reading “Louvre Abu Dhabi – a new collection awaits”
Looking at architecture in a new light – Building the Picture at the National Gallery
Dear readers. How often do you look carefully at the buildings portrayed in paintings? How many times have you focused on the painted surroundings more than the figures in the image? For the majority of you, “very little” is likely to be your response. Building the Picture attempts to reverse this, forcing us to lookContinue reading “Looking at architecture in a new light – Building the Picture at the National Gallery”
“This is not painting, it is magic that casts a spell on people who see it” – Veronese at the National Gallery
If there was only one word to describe the works in this exhibition, it would be this: big. The National Gallery’s Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice brings together 50 paintings by the wonderful Paolo Veronese in the UK’s first ever monographic exhibition of the artist. And boy, did they do an impressive job! Unfaithfulness andContinue reading ““This is not painting, it is magic that casts a spell on people who see it” – Veronese at the National Gallery”
Nigel Ip | Visual Arts Writer & Art Historian 