Collections

Sheng Tzu-Chao (active 1310-1360)

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Sheng Tzu-Chao Mountainous Landscape Chinese, late Yuan to early Ming Dynasty Brush and ink on silk 1468 x 610 mm This depicts one of the favourite subjects of Chinese landscape art – a view of hills surmounted by clumps of trees, whcih rise beyond to a distant mountain range wreathed in mist. With delicate, calligraphic … Read more

John Leech (1817-1864)

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John Leech A Bracing Day at the Seaside British Watercolour over pencil 252 x 350 mm A family group struggle against the wind to walk along Scarborough Pier, whilst large waves break behind them. Leech’s characterisation of the holiday spirit is demonstrated by the ecstatic children in the foreground, the grimacing female guiding them, and … Read more

John Brett (1831-1902)

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John Brett Study of Warwick Castle (‘The White Waterlily’) Warwick, 1860 Watercolour on paper 254 x 355 mm Early on in his career, John Brett, the leading Pre-Raphaelite landscape artist, visited the West Midlands where he produced this view of Warwick Castle. This watercolour study is, along with an early sketch, the only record of … Read more

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi The Grand Piazza, Plate IV from ‘The Prisons (Carceri)’ Rome, 1773 Etching with engraving 545 x 416 mm Piranesi’s set of architectural fantasies, ‘The Prisons’, were first published in 1745, but he extensively reworked the plates before reusing them in the 1760s. This transformed the architectural, stage-like designs into a dramatic world … Read more

Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837)

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Giovanni Migliara An Architectural Capriccio 1829 Pencil and watercolour 180 x 234 mm Migliara was a scenery painter who turned to small-scale works after 1810, owing to illness. His precise, jewel-like technique and theatrical settings found much favour with patrons in his native Milan and further afield. His works are extremely rare in Britain. As … Read more

Pieter Anthoniesz Barbiers (1717-1780)

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Pieter Anthoniesz Barbiers A Woodland Landscape with Three Travellers Amsterdam, about 1760 Watercolour, pen and ink on paper, with pen and ink borders Sheet 438 x 534 mm; mount 727 x 800 mm The flourishing tradition of 18th-century Dutch landscape watercolours is little known in Britain. This fine woodland scene, which is comparable in many … Read more

Richard Earlom (1743-1822), after Lemeul Francis Abbott (1760-1802)

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Richard Earlom after Lemeul Francis Abbott The Right Honourable Lord Nelson (1758-1805), Rear Admiral of the Blue London, 1798 Mezzotint on laid handmade paper 520 x 368 mm The Right Honourable Lord Nelson is shown in the uniform of a Rear Admiral of the British Navy. His chest is decorated with the Star and Ribbon … Read more

Fabrizio Chiari (1621-1695), after Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)

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Fabrizio Chiari after Nicolas Poussin Venus and Mercury Rome, 1636 Etching Venus, the ancient Roman goddess of Beauty and Love, reclines languidly beside a golden chariot while Mercury, the Protector of the Arts, rests in the shade by her side. The soft plump curves of her body exemplify Renaissance ideals of beauty. In the foreground, … Read more

Jan (Johan) Sadeler I, after Paul Bril (about 1554-1626)

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Jan (Johan) Sadeler I after Paul Bril Landscape with Rabbit Hunt Rome, after 1595 Etching and engraving 270 x 343 mm Multiple groups of hunters and dogs bound through the landscape in pursuit of birds and beasts. The rickety fences, meandering paths and natural disarray of the forest contrast with the neat town in the … Read more

Aegidius Sadeler II (1570-1629)

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Aegidius Sadeler II Daedalus & Icarus Etching 234 x 304 mm In a scene based on the classical story of Daedalus and Icarus and their escape from Crete, Daedalus gestures with despair as his son Icarus falls from the sky. The ploughman looks up while the seated peasants laugh and point. This story was often … Read more

Jozef Israels (1824-1911)

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Jozef Israels The fisherman Paris, about 1883 Etching on wove paper, probably Japanese paper, with blind stamp 498 x 391 mm Almost identical to an oil painting of about 1883 entitled ‘The Fisherman’ or ‘The Struggle for Existence’, this etching portrays a man with his sleeves and trouser legs rolled up for fishing salmon. The … Read more

Pierre Drevet (1663-1738), after Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1763)

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Pierre Drevet after Hyacinthe Rigaud Portrait of Robert de Cotte Paris, 1722 Engraving on laid paper 566 x 390 mm This print reproduces Hyacinthe Rigaud’s portrait of Robert de Cotte (1656-1735), one of the most significant French architects of his time. Cotte is portrayed as a self-assured figure, dressed in richly embroidered fabrics that indicate … Read more

Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)

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Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault The Flemish Farrier France, 1821 Lithograph 290 x 390 mm A rural working horse dominates this cramped and hot interior. A farrier with rolled-up sleeves and disheveled clothing works on the horse’s hoof, highlighted by bright white steam. This print formed part of Géricault’s publication The English Series – Various … Read more

Andrea Andreani (c. 1560-1623)

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Andrea Andreani Hercules and the Nemean Lion Mantua/Rome, about 1520 Chiaroscuro woodcut 250 x 188 mm Hercules is perhaps the best known classical hero. Killing the Nemean Lion was the first of his Twelve Labours, as series of challenges which atoned for the murder of his wife and sons, and demonstrated the triumph of Good … Read more

Hendrik Goudt (1585-1630), after Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610)

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Hendrik Goudt after Adam Elsheimer The Mocking of Ceres Rome, 1610 Etching with engraving 319 x 247 mm An old woman protects a boy as he mocks Ceres, the goddess of nature, in this episode from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Ceres pauses to drink while searching for her daughter who has been abducted by Pluto, god of … Read more

Cristofano Robetta (1462 – after 1534)

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Cristofano Robetta Allegory of the power of love Florence, about 1500-20 Engraving 302 x 280 mm In this complex but beguiling allegory of the vanity of carnal love, the nudity of the figures is integral to the subject. In the centre is a male ‘captive of love’ embracing a female personification of Voluptas (Pleasure). On … Read more

Giorgio Ghisi (1520/4-1582)

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An allegory of life (‘The dream of Raphael’) Paris, 1561 Engraving 380 x 540 mm Believed to have been inspired by Virgil’s Aeneid (19 B.C.), this work remains elusive in meaning. Ghisi’s frenetic attention to detail creates an intense, dream-like atmosphere of confusion. The splintered boat stranded amid the swirling water, jagged rocks and snarling … Read more