Previous Posts: May 2025

If we look beyond outmoded prejudices and focus on the accomplishments of Company painting, we will note that this was the moment when Indian artists who had trained in courtly ateliers first moved outside the court to work for new patrons. The agendas of those patrons were not tied up with courtly or religious concerns. They were enthralled by India’s flora and fauna; by its architectural traditions; and by the costumes, customs and manners of its diverse peoples; and they looked to local artists to capture these details in images that would help them understand an environment that was new to them. Never mind that the patrons were foreigners, and their vision could be ill-informed. What should strike us now is how the artists responded to their demands with skill and passion, creating entirely new templates of Indian art. Company painting, while reflecting India’s past, also shows us a moment of modernity.

The restoration, which took place between September 2025 and March 2025, brought in two specialists, one to handle the paint layer and another to tackle the gilding. As X-ray, infrared, and ultraviolet analysis showed, cracks and depressions had appeared across the work, possibly from candle heat while it was a church altarpiece. Furthermore, a century of dirt and an oxidized varnish had dulled the painting (see above image). The restorer, Elisa Mora Sánchez, cleaned the work, removed the old varnish, and filled in the gaps with plaster, before reapplying a new varnish. For the gilding, Mayte Camino Martín toned down the previous restorations of the gold sections before carefully reintroducing them with gold watercolor.

“All these elements make this Annunciation a fine example of Berruguete’s art,” the museum said. “A painter who was able to create his own style with direct knowledge of the main schools of his time.”

Artistic renderings of the human figure—in portraiture, sculpture, and other media—in a range of allegorical, historical, and religious images often showcase jewelry. The ornaments depicted in such designs offer an abundance of information that not only heightens our understanding of the subject but also provides insights into the imagination of the artist. Jewelry enhances our enjoyment of works of art because it is visually compelling, sensuous, and laden with an array of associations and symbolic meanings.

Bringing together spectacular and significant art objects depicting figures wearing sumptuous personal adornments that define who they are within the specific milieus in which they lived, this richly illustrated and accessible volume represents a novel, interdisciplinary approach to the ways in which jewelry can be studied and understood.

From 3 June to 28 September 2025, the Palace of Versailles is presenting an exhibition focusing on the famous bust of Louis XIV created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a key figure of the Italian baroque era in the 17th century, better known in France as ‘le Bernin’.

This exhibition is running in tandem with the restoration work which has been taking place in the Diana Room since October 2021 to restore the decorative painted and sculpted scheme on the ceiling, coving and overdoors to their former glory. This room offers a setting designed to reveal the full detail of the connection between the genius of the artist and the majesty of his bust of Louis XIV.

The exhibition, which is being presented in the Dauphine’s apartment, turns the spotlight in particular on one of the most iconic artefacts in the palace collections: the bust of Louis XIV, sculpted in marble by Bernini during his trip to Paris in 1665.

The exhibition showcases one of the most significant yet enigmatic figures of medieval Hungarian art, known as Master MS. At the heart of the monographic exhibition is Master MS’s most famous work: the former high altarpiece of Saint Catherine’s Church in Selmecbánya (now Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia). The seven surviving panel paintings of this monumental masterpiece of late medieval art have never before been brought together in a single exhibition.

The exhibition, where visitors can see nearly one hundred works of art, maps, models, goldsmith’s pieces and period documents. They will not only discover the artist’s known and newly attributed works, but also a comprehensive overview of his artistic milieu, the artistic regions that influenced his style, and the historical context of Hungary at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The curators even suggest a possible solution to one of the most interesting mysteries in Hungarian art history: who might be behind the MS monogram.The monographic exhibition, organised in conjunction with the Christian Museum of Esztergom and with contributions from over twenty lending institutions, will hopefully open a new chapter in the decades-long research into Master MS’s identity and art.

This book considers how art market stakeholders, including art dealers, collectors and agents, have shaped museum collections and affected exhibition practices since the mid-nineteenth century. Based on new archival research and data analysis, it explores the role of dealers not only in selling directly to museums, but in influencing museum collecting priorities, as well as potential donors. It also examines the important but hitherto overlooked contribution of the female curator-agent.

The book is divided into three sections, which address the relationship between art dealers and museums, women as art agents and influencers, and the strategies of entrepreneurial collectors. Featuring contributions from a wide range of international specialists in the market for decorative arts and antiquities, as well as European modernism, The Art Market and the Museum explores the origins and development of the modern Western art market and the global art networks that operated not only in Paris, London and New York, but in cities such as Glasgow, Vienna, Melbourne and Kansas City. It is perfect reading for scholars and researchers on the history of the art market, museum studies and art history more broadly.

The head of Silenus is proudly inscribed “Jos Wright 11 Years”, and may have been copied from a print in a book from his father’s library—or, curator Lucy Bamford thinks, possibly from an inn sign in the city.

Roles and responsibilities:
-Assist with day-to-day documentation and research of the collection
-Responsible for all curatorial matters relating to the Ottoman world.
-Contribute to (temporary and permanent) display and exhibition development.
-Handle public queries, Educational and Communication Division requests, and scholarly requests.
-Must be able to work within a team, be flexible and self-motivated. Liaise with museum conservators, registrars and other colleagues on a regular basis.
-Other activities as requested by the Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs. 

We are seeking a part-time tutor to teach on our courses in the History of Art, with a specialism in the History of Art of the Global Renaissance. The successful candidate would teach on our part-time award-bearing courses, including the Certificate and Diploma modules (first-year undergraduate level (FHEQ level 4) and second-year ( FHEQ level 5) respectfully). In addition, the successful candidate might be required to teach across our wider provision, including short weekly classes, the day and weekend programme, and summer schools. Tutors’ duties include teaching face to face and online, marking and providing feedback on assessments, and providing supervision.

The Bader Collection is the strongest holding of Old Masters in any Canadian university art gallery, and the most comprehensive collection of authenticated paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn and his circle in any institution within Canada. Comprised of over 500 paintings, sculptures and works on paper that span the fourteenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries, the collection contributes fundamentally to the study and enjoyment of early modern European art in Canada and abroad.

A result of the highly discerning eye of Dr Alfred Bader (1924-2018), The Bader Collection has brought international stature and renown to Agnes’s collections.