| The spacious European and American galleries reflect the core and substance of artistic tradition and innovation in Western culture. The installation of painting and sculpture, arranged in chronological order, begins with the Middle Ages and proceeds until the beginning of the twentieth century. The collections occupy the exhibition space on the upper floor of the main wing.
European art of the period 1100 to 1600 is exhibited in the first five galleries. Outstanding among paintings are: Simone Martini's St. Catherine of Alexandria (c.1320-1325), Piero di Cosimo's Vulcan and Aeolus (c.1485-1490), Venus (c.1518) by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Baldung Grien's Eve, the Serpent and Death (c.1510-1520), and Agnolo Bronzino's Portrait of a Man (c.1550-1555).
The important collection of 17th century painting and sculpture fills three galleries, including the impressive Baroque gallery with vaults rising to a height of ten metres. Italian, French, Spanish and Flemish artists are all represented here by such notable works as Gian Lorenzo Bernini's marble bust Pope Urban VIII (c.1623), and paintings such as Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's Abraham and the Three Angels (1667-1670), and Nicolas Poussin's Landscape with a Woman Washing Her Feet (1650). Paintings in the Northern Baroque galleries include Peter Paul Ruben's Entombment of Christ (c.1612-1614), Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn's Heroine from the Old Testament (c.1632-1633), Paulus Bor’s altarpiece The Annunciation of the Virgin’s Death (c.1630-1635), together with Dutch 17th century landscapes by Meindert Hobbema, Salomon van Ruysdael and Jan Both.
Jean-Siméon Chardin
French, 1699-1779
The Governess, 1739
oil on canvas
46.7 x 37.5 cm
Purchased 1956
Thereafter, four galleries illustrate the varied aspects of art in 18th century Europe. These range from topographical views of Venice by Canaletto, Bellotto and Guardi to Giuseppe Maria Crespi's monumental Allegory of the Arts (c.1730) and the intimacy of Jean-Siméon Chardin's The Governess (1739). The neo-classical room has at its centre Antonio Canova's beautiful marble Dancer (c.1818-1822), accompanied by such works as Anne-Louis Girodet's portrait of Madame Bioche de Misery (1807) and Antoine-Jean Gros' Bacchus and Ariadne (1821).
Five further rooms are devoted to the 19th century and feature such works as Camille Corot's Bridge at Narni (1827), J.M.W. Turner's Mercury and Argus (before 1836) and John Constable's Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds (1820). The Impressionists are represented by Edgar Degas' Woman with an Umbrella (c.1876), Camille Pissarro's Hay Harvest at Eragny (1901), Claude Monet's Waterloo Bridge: The Sun in a Fog (1903), and Paul Cézanne's Forest (1902-1904). Vincent van Gogh’s Iris (1889) dates from the artist’s residence at the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
Many gifts are displayed throughout the Galleries. The Duke of Westminster and the Earl of Rosebery each gave to the Nation works relating to General Wolfe, the imposing painting by Benjamin West The Death of General Wolfe (1770) and Joseph Wilton's portrait bust (c.1760). The Southam family has given many works including Gustave Courbet’s The Cliffs at Étretat. More recently, the Saidye Bronfman bequest involved two notable works, Monet's Jean-Pierre Hoschedé and Michel Monet on the Banks of the Epte (1887-1890) and Degas’ At the Café Concert (c.1879-1884), while Michal and Renata Hornstein donated Bassano’s Departure of Abraham for Canaan (c.1570-1571) and Stormy Landscape (c.1635-1638) by Rubens. |
