Caterina Angela Pierozzi, The Annunciation Miniature, 1677. Colnaghi, London. I’ve just read a wonderful article in the New York Times, A Messy Table, a Map of the World by Jason Farago, and I’m half inclined to post a link to that today (which I have) and leave it at that. It’s a richly illustrated piece,Continue reading “157 – Florid”
Author Archives: drrichardstemp
156 – Second helpings at the Feast
Donatello, The Feast of Herod, 1423-7. Baptismal Font, Battistero di San Giovanni Battista, Siena. ‘Please, sir, I want some more.’ OK, so it seems extremely unlikely that these words, said by Oliver Twist in the eponymous novel by Charles Dickens, and so often misquoted, nor indeed anything like them, would ever have been uttered atContinue reading “156 – Second helpings at the Feast”
155 – Pre-Announced
Raphael, The Annunciation, c. 1506-7. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. I’ve said in two different lectures (to two different audiences) that I intend to write about this drawing, thus announcing the Annunciation. I’d not seen it before my first visit to the glorious Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery, but it grabbed my attention, and instantly became myContinue reading “155 – Pre-Announced”
Revisiting Raphael
Raphael Sanzio, The Crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary, Saints and Angels, about 1502-3, National Gallery, London. Happy Easter! And greetings from Vienna! I’m here with a group, and actually wrote this paragraph in London on Easter Monday: I’m sure I’ll have to do a bit of preparation before I go. However, the blog below wasContinue reading “Revisiting Raphael”
154 – A Feast for the eyes
Donatello, The Feast of Herod, 1423-7. Baptismal Font, Battistero di San Giovanni Battista, Siena. The Donatello exhibition in Florence is truly remarkable, an astonishing achievement, given that sculptures have been transported from churches and cathedrals across Italy, including several which have left their original settings for the first time since they were installed. Others haveContinue reading “154 – A Feast for the eyes”
153 – Fly on the Wall?
Carlo Crivelli, Madonna and Child, c. 1480. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Buona Festa! The ‘Festa’ in question is the Feast of the Annunciation, or, to give it its English name, Lady Day. It’s the reason why we (in the UK) have Mother’s Day this weekend, rather than in May like everyone else.Continue reading “153 – Fly on the Wall?”
Day 1, Two Years On…
Another re-post – but why? Well, simply to celebrate the fact that this, my very first blog, was posted two years ago today. The day before I had been rescued from London, where my Borough alone had an unnerving 22 cases of Covid. We really had no idea what was coming. Three days later lockdownContinue reading “Day 1, Two Years On…”
Rethinking Artemisia Painting Painting
Artemisia Gentileschi, Self Portrait (?) as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura), c. 1638-9, Royal Collection Trust, London. This Monday 21 March at 6pm I will return to the exhibition Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace to have a look at some of the paintings which I couldn’t cover last time. When I did Part 1 –Continue reading “Rethinking Artemisia Painting Painting”
152 – One and a half princesses…
Thomas Gainsborough, The Three Eldest Princesses: Charlotte, Princess Royal, Augusta and Elizabeth, 1783-84. The Royal Collection. This Monday, 14 March, I will be talking about Gainsborough’s ‘Blue Boy’ and the following week, I will be returning to the Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace which I didn’t get round to talking about the last time I tried… soContinue reading “152 – One and a half princesses…“
151 – Mommie dearest
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, 1871. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. This coming Monday’s talk, White: Whistler’s Woman… is an introduction to the Royal Academy’s exhibition entitled Whistler’s Woman in White. This does not refer to one specific painting, though, but to a person, as the subtitle of the exhibition makesContinue reading “151 – Mommie dearest“
dr richard stemp 