I have written about the show before, so readers will know that the museum has been lucky enough to have borrowed an astonishing late painting from HM the Queen. This shows a mythological scene from Ovid in which the goddess Diana, observed bathing by a huntsman, Actaeon, is outraged and takes rather extreme revenge (see image from a Grecian vase below, which is not on show, but which gives the general idea). Being a Gainsborough, the event takes place in what looks like a Suffolk woodland glade. Gainsborough painted no other mythological or historical paintings of this type, and it is interesting to speculate why he did so in the later years of his life.
 |
| Diane and Achtaeon, Ancient Greek illustration of the myth |
Other pictures and works are on display, which either share Gainsborough's mythological theme, or show ladies bathing. Turner, Cezanne, Renoir and others are represented.
The exhibition has been well reviewed in the press. In The Spectator this week Andrew Lambirth says that '..the variety and range of interest makes this an informative display as well as a delightful exhibition of naked girls disporting themselves'.
So there you have it.
The museum is free on Tuesday afternoons, but please do leave a small donation if you can! The last day of the exhibition is Saturday September 17th.
No comments:
Post a Comment