Victoria & Albert (again)

I made a point to spend some extra time at the Victoria & Albert Museum this week for a few reasons...first, they have a new furniture exhibition which is worth checking out, second, I have been reviewing Term 1 notes and wanted to go back and see the objects we have talked about in person, and third...I just love any excuse to walk around South Kensington.

First stop - Europe 1400-1600 galleries, Donatello Room. 

Donatello (1386-1466) was a Florentine sculptor who developed a technique of shallow relief, called rilievo schiacciato...the sculpture below is undoubtedly the most valuable piece in the room and is the best example of this kind of technique. It depicts Christ giving St. Peter the keys to heaven. It is not known what or whom the piece was originally commissioned for, but it did end up at the Medici palace in 1492, about 60 years after it was executed and after Donatello had died. This picture doesn't do it justice but its amazing to look at up close - incredible perspective and detail in such shallow relief.

This next piece is a lamentation scene - Mary holds Christ's body as Mary Magdalene and others lament his death.

There are several terms used describe the series of events leading up to Christ's death - each are slightly different and the distinctions are important. Artists during the Renaissance knew their stuff...from Ovid's Metamorphosis to the stories of the saints (in the Golden Legend) to the Bible, artists (and educated elite) knew the difference between the Crucifixion (still on the cross), Deposition (coming down off cross), Lamentation/Pieta (in Mary's arms), Entombment (being put in tomb), and Resurrection (rising from the tomb). And now I must know these to be able to identify the works (woohoo!)

Other highlights from that room were a painted trompe l'oeil ceiling of a chapel somehow transported from Italy to London as well as a few paintings (one by Crivelli) and other sculpture and relief by Donatello, Duccio, etc. 

After having my fill of this, I set off to see the furniture exhibition - it was very informative! There were instructional videos about how joints are made (I now know the difference between a dovetail joint and a mortise and tenon!) and how things like wood inlay/intarsia are done. Instead of written labels, there were ipads for each small display where you could read info about each piece. Interestingly, the person performing wood inlay in the instruction video was  none other than the guy (his name was Yannick - heavy but endearing French accent) that visited our class to lecture on the subject! Clearly he is the best guy in the business.

And last but not least, I stopped by the ceramics...Bernard Palissy is quite an interesting guy when it comes to his ceramics designs. 

Palissy would make casts of dead snakes, leaves, and other objects from nature to put onto his pieces...very in vogue at one point in history (though I cannot imagine food being appetizing after having being served from this one below...)

Palissy lived from 1510-1585 and although living in Catholic France, he was a Protestant (French Protestant = "Huguenot"). His militant Protestantism landed him in the Bastille and he died there, though a few years later in 1598, King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes which allowed for religious toleration throughout France. Poor Palissy, it is a pity he didn't live to see religious freedom in France.

Unfortunately this religiously tolerant society did not last forever, and in 1685, less than 100 years later, King Louis XIV revoked the edict. He declared Protestantism illegal and this sparked a mass exodus of Huguenots from France. Many actually went to England and many others to the Netherlands. What is so interesting about this is that the Huguenots were particularly hard-working (Protestant work ethic anyone?) and were extremely productive and sought after for their superior skills. When they left France, Britain and the Netherlands benefitted from their prolific artistic production. Many Huguenot craftsmen went to work at English country houses and that is why there is often excellent craftsmanship at many of these houses either in their furniture, wrought-iron work, carving, or even architecture. Interesting! 

Last but not least, I stopped in a room full of sculpture/etc I had never seen before, where I heard this little child say the best thing ever...

"This is amazing history!"

Yes, he said it! Verbatim. It made me smile. He was walking through this series of tombs for English kings and queens, all at about eye level for him...it was a pretty cool room.

and then this was just charming - at the foot of the woman above, her dog remains :-) adorable.