4500 years of paintings of geese, from Rubens’ flock seen at harvest time, to Gauguin’s complement to his landlady. And some superb paintings of wild geese on the wing.
Rubens
Formerly a beautiful young woman, she was turned into a monster by Minerva, and painted by Caravaggio, Rubens, Klimt, and others.
Since the decline of egg tempera and fresco in the Renaissance, oil paints have predominated. They rely on drying oils as their binder, which give them longevity and versatility.
Two lost paintings – a mural of the Battle of Anghiari in Florence, and a possible work showing Leda, plus his later Virgin and Child with St Anne.
With a binder of gum arabic, watercolours came into use in the Renaissance, and have steadily increased in popularity.
Is it just a quirky re-telling of the myth of Arachne and her weaving contest? What do the foreground and background have in common? A superb visual riddle, perhaps.
Three religious paintings, including two skilfully-told narratives, a history, and the only nude of his to have survived.
He made friends with Rubens, who helped him improve his narrative painting, and them travelled to Italy, where he painted the first plein air oil sketches in European art.
Some works by artists of the Spanish Golden Age, including El Greco, Jusepe de Ribera, Zurbarán, and a guest appearance from Rubens and polychrome wood carving.
The most frequently-painted of Boccaccio’s hundred stories, shown here from Rubens to Frederic, Lord Leighton. But there’s much more to the story than that.
