Van Dyck’s Ecce Homo painting

Behold the man! Other ways of seeing Van Dyck’s painting Celeste Garduño Carbajal ‘We cannot change the past, but we can change how we look at the past’ – Trisse Gejl, Steven Sampson (2020) Behold the man! Other ways of seeing Van Dyck’s painting is a research project resulting from a 4-month internship undertaken by … Read more

Unrecorded Spanish Artist (19th century)

Christ at the Column Spain, 19th century Elephant ivory 22.8 x 7 x 3cm This sculpture was identified as a deliberately aged fake during the conservation of the ivories in the Barber’s collection in 2012. It may have been copied from 13th-century statues called ‘ivory corpora’ (sculptures of the crucified Christ). The suffering of Christ … Read more

Unrecorded French Artist (19th century)

Mirror back carved with a Tournament Scene Paris (?), 19th century imitation of the French 14th-century style Elephant ivory 8.4 cm diameter including four pierced lions on the rim This is a 19th-century imitation of a mirror back carved in the French 14th-century style. It is closely based on genuine examples. The availability of ivory … Read more

Unrecorded French Artist (early 14th century)

Casket with Scenes of Chivalry and Love Paris (?), early 14th century Elephant ivory; brass brackets, straps and handles (later additions) 9.5 x 23.2 x 13.6cm This is one of nine such caskets (or coffrets) known to have survived complete, most others are in prestigious museum collections around the world, including the British Museum, London, … Read more

(Hermann) Max Pechstein (1881 – 1955)

(Hermann) Max Pechstein Still Life in Grey Berlin, signed and dated 1913 Oil on canvas 100.3 x 74.6 cm Signed with monogram and dated upper right: HMP This colourful still life presents an unusual combination of objects including a cauliflower, a blue and white Chinese jar and a carved wooden stool from Cameroon (then a … Read more

Taking Root: The Sustaining Life of Trees

Inspired by Birmingham 2022 Festival’s theme of Nature, programmed around the Commonwealth Games, this display explores our enduring fascination with trees. As some of the most prominent, appealing and even essential features of a landscape, trees have a distinctive presence in works by a great variety of artists. Artists have studied trees to develop their … Read more

To Have and to Hold: Portrait Miniature Jewellery

Small portraits, often originally encased in intricate bejewelled frames or snugly stowed in lockets, were both a unique art form and a form of jewellery popular across Europe for over 350 years, from about 1510 to 1860. These portrait miniatures were intended to be viewed up close, cradled in the hand, worn on the body … Read more

Anthony van Dyck (1599 – 1641)

Anthony van Dyck Portrait of François Langlois (1589 – 1647) London, probably early 1630s Oil on canvas 97.8 x 80 cm This engaging portrait depicts François Langlois (1589-1647), an engraver, art dealer and publisher, who lived in Florence and Rome in the 1620s, where he presumably met Van Dyck. In 1634 he settled in Paris. … Read more

Unrecorded Roman Artist (1st century AD)

Head of a Man Rome, 1st century AD Marble 31.1 x 20.3 x 22.3 cm The development of Roman portraiture is characterised by a stylistic cycle that alternately emphasised realistic or idealising elements. This battered bust (possibly re-carved), with its lifelike wrinkles and folds of skin tempered by classical, regular features, would seem typical of … Read more

Francis Derwent Wood (1871 – 1926)

Profile Bust of Lady Barber (1869 – 1933) England, 1913 Marble 57 x 47 cm This profile bust depicts Lady Martha Constance Hattie Barber, the founder of the Barber Institute. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1914 and again in 1927. Lady Barber and her husband Sir Henry Barber were evidently on friendly … Read more

Francis Derwent Wood (1871 – 1926)

Profile Bust of Sir Henry Barber (1860 – 1927) England, 1914 Plaster 55.8 x 39.4 cm Sir William Henry Barber was the husband of Lady Martha Constance Hattie Barber. Hattie founded the Barber Institute in 1932 in his memory. She died, childless, four months later, leaving the entire Barber fortune to the Trustees of the … Read more

Jean Varin (model) (1607 – 1672), and possibly Hubert le Sueur (about 1580 – 1658) or Henri Perlan (1597 – 1656) (cast)

Bust of Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu (1585 – 1642) Model: Paris, 1641; Cast: Paris, 1643 or later Bronze 69.8 x 68 x 38 cm Richelieu was First Minister under Louis XIII (r.1610-43), and thus an extremely powerful figure in a period when France was becoming the leading nation in Europe. Varin has contrasted … Read more

Cesare Targone (after) (active 1573-85)

The Madonna Mourning the Dead Christ Model: Probably Florence, about 1582-84; Cast: perhaps Milan, probably late 16th century Bronze 28.3 x 26.1 x 1 cm This cast relief is closely based on an exquisite repoussé (hammered) gold relief signed by the Venetian goldsmith Targone (J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu), his only certain work. Another gold … Read more

Giovanni della Robbia (ascribed to) (1469 – 1529/30)

The Virgin and Child with a Bird Florence, Italy, about 1500-06 Terracotta relief, polychromed and glazed 139 x 95 cm This work was originally made for a monastic church in Castellina, near Florence, and is a typical product of the della Robbia family workshop around 1500. This workshop was arguably at its height under the … Read more

Stefano Maderno (about 1576 – 1636)

Hercules and the Nemean Lion Model: Rome, 1621; Variant: perhaps German, possibly 17th or 18th century Wood 33.8 x 30.3 cm Maderno was the leading sculptor in Rome before the emergence of Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). His fine terracotta original of this model is now in Venice. It was much copied in bronze and other media, … Read more

Unrecorded Italian Artist (perhaps 17th century)

The Farnese Bull (The Punishment of Dirce) Model and Cast: Italian, perhaps 17th century (after the antique) Bronze 42.9 x 38 x 36 cm This is one of many small reproductions after a celebrated life-size antique marble group, excavated in Rome in 1545, and placed in the Palazzo Farnese there. In poor condition, the marble … Read more

Francesco Bertos (attributed to) (1678 – 1741)

The Drunken Silenus Model and Cast: Venice, Italy, early 18th century Bronze 24.7 x 22.5 cm This finely detailed bronze has only very recently been recognized as very probably the work of Francesco Bertos, who produced some of the most extraordinary, even eccentric, but virtuosic sculptures of the 18th century. It represents Silenus, the fat … Read more