Art Eyewitness Review: Portraits of the Tudor Dynasty

 

Art Eyewitness Review:
 Portraits of the Tudor Dynasty

Reviewed by Ed Voves

Original photography by Anne Lloyd

The Tudor Dynasty has been holding court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art since early October 2022. The Tudors: Art and Majesty is a magnificent display of royal patronage of the arts during the Renaissance. The exhibition spans five reigns, 1485-1603, one of the most tumultuous eras of British history. 

When The Tudors: Art and Majesty closes at the Met on January 8, 2023, most of its treasures will be transported to the Cleveland Museum of Art and then to the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco. The concept of a traveling exhibition like this is worthy of Tudor court procedure. The Tudors were restless sovereigns, moving from one palace to another in a seasonal cycle of pleasure-seeking and political control.

Under Elizabeth I, the range of these journeys was extended to the country estates of the English nobility and the leaders of the Church of England. These visits or "progresses" by Her Majesty were more like military invasions. Elizabeth and hundreds of her court officials, ladies-in-waiting, guardsmen, grooms and servants would descend upon the selected country house in the expectation of being wined, dined, entertained - and obeyed.

Since every English aristocrat of standing might have the dubious honor of "hosting" Elizabeth and her court, it was imperative to be prepared. The first order of business was to commission a portrait of Queen Bess and keep it ready for prominent display when - and if - the occasion required.

  Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Queen Elizabeth I (The Darnley Portrait), 1576

Very few country houses dating to the Tudor era exist today, many of them having been put to the torch during the English Civil War, 1642-51. But a large number of portraits of Elizabeth I have survived and an astounding number of these have been gathered together for display in The Tudors: Art and Majesty. 

Nicholas Hilliard, The Heneage Jewel, ca. 1595-1600

By my count there are a dozen portraits of Elizabeth I, in various media, on display in this remarkable exhibition. These form a mini-exhibit within the overarching Tudors: Art and Majesty, grouped for the most part in an imposing array in the final gallery. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Elizabethan portraits on view at The Tudors: Art and Majesty 

Portraits of the Tudor monarchs are a unifying thread throughout the exhibition. Several depict Elizabeth's formidable father, Henry VIII. Two of these are of outstanding merit, a small, but psychologically penetrating, oil study by Hans Holbein the Younger; the other is a full-length portrait by Holbein and his assistants.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Hans Holbein the Younger's Henry VIII of England, ca. 1537

Every member of the Tudor family has at lest one portrait on view in the exhibition with the exception of Lady Jane Grey, who was the great-niece of Henry VIII and nominated to the succession list by Henry and later by Henry's short-lived son, Edward VI. Lady Jane was indeed placed on the throne by palace intrigue - much to her reluctance - after Edward died in 1553. She only lasted nine days. A counter-coup ousted her in favor of Edward's Catholic sister, Mary. 

Lady Jane, the "Nine Days Queen" was beheaded before she could have her official portrait painted.

Portraits were hugely important to the Tudors as a sign of their legitimacy. Despite their vast power, the Tudors were never entirely secure on the throne of England. Henry VIII literally moved "heaven and earth" to get a male heir to succeed him. 

At the cost of severing England's ties to the Roman Catholic faith, Henry achieved his goal, as we can see in the portrait of his son and heir, the infant Edward VI by Hans Holbein the Younger. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Edward VI as a Child by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1538

This picture of chubby-cheeked health was an exercise in wishful-thinking. Edward was frail and sickly throughout his short life. 

Ed Voves, Photo (2022)

 Edward VI, attributed to Guillim Scrots, ca. 1547-50

Soon after he succeeded Henry VIII in 1547, Edward was painted again, this time by a Flemish artist named Guillim Scrots. Much less talented than Holbein, who had died in 1543, Scrots had the difficult task of making Edward appear to be much more healthy than he was. He therefore depicted the young monarch in profile, basking in the rays of the Sun - whose questioning expression rather undermines the ploy.

The Tudor monarchs, like most of the European dynasties of the time, commissioned portraits of their eligible princes and princesses for the "marriage market." Sending such portraits was the initial step in arranging marriages and military alliances. 

This brings us to one of the most fascinating paintings on view in The Tudors: Art and Majesty. Long thought to be a portrait of Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's ill-fated first wife, it has recently been established that the red-haired princess is Mary Tudor, sister to Henry VIII.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)  

Michael Sittow's portrait of Mary Tudor, ca. 1514

As befitted a Tudor princess, Henry's favorite sister was fondly known as Mary Rose. She was reputed to be the most beautiful princess in Europe, but her handsome looks proved to be less than a blessing. In 1514, Mary Rose was married to King Louis XII of France, an elderly widower in his fifties. Three months after the wedding, Louis suddenly died.  

Mary Rose was left in an intolerable position - an eighteen year-old widow, with no children and thus no standing in French court politics. Because of her youth and beauty, Mary Rose retained some value as a bargaining "chip" for Henry to use for another marriage-alliance. But she was a strong-willed Tudor and determined to take charge of her own life. Defying Henry's rage, Mary Rose married her secret lover, the Duke of Suffolk.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)  

Michael Sittow's portrait of Mary Tudor, and, at right, Mary's Book of Hours, created by the Master of Claude de France, ca. 1495-1500

In a nice touch, the Met's curators re-united Mary Rose's portrait with her prayer book, displayed side-by-side in the exhibition. This is very appropriate, as Mary Rose was very devout and opposed Henry's break with Rome. She died of natural causes in 1533, before being forced to take the oath of allegiance to Henry as Head of the Church of England. 

Mary Rose Tudor secured her personal freedom by marrying the man of her choice. Another Tudor queen achieved unparalleled political power by remaining unwed and independent. This was, of course, Elizabeth I, the "Virgin Queen."

Elizabeth's portraits reflect her decision to remain unmarried. Initially, while there were diplomatic moves to secure a suitable husband for her, Elizabeth's features remained fairly close-to-life on her early portraits. The Darnley Portrait, painted in 1575 by an unknown, probably Flemish, painter and The Hampden Portrait (1567), by the English-born George Gower, are notable examples of early, accurate likenesses of Elizabeth.

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) 

 Elizabeth I (The Hampden Portrait), attributed to George Gower, 1567

As Elizabeth's reign progressed, a cult of the "Virgin Queen" was instituted to  promote a unified, Protestant culture in England in opposition to the Papacy and Roman Catholicism. Traditionally, there had been great reverence in England for images of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, but this now was supplanted by extreme manifestations of patriotic loyalty, verging on idolatry, for Elizabeth. Little room remained for Holbein's style of portrait painting - majestic to be sure, but also astutely revealing of the inner self of his subjects.

A sense of humanity began to drain away from the facial features of Elizabeth, especially following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Over and over again, a strange, sharp-featured doll's face emerges from under a bejewelled red wig and extravagant lace collars. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty showing Queen Elizabeth I (The Ditchley Portrait), by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, ca.1592

The very fabric of Elizabeth's gowns was laden with symbolic representations. On the skirt of the Hardwick Portrait, dating to 1598-99, an astonishing array of embroidered land and sea creatures testifies to the expansion of English power under Elizabeth.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Detail of the Hardwick Portrait of Elizabeth I. Attributed to the Workshop of Nicholas Hilliard, ca.1598-99

 

Interestingly, a dragon is prominently displayed on the Hardwick Portrait skirt. Dragons were associated with India during the 1500's. 

Plans were under discussion for organizing an English merchant company to trade with India around the time this painting, attributed to Nicholas Hilliard, was created. The East India Company received its charter from Elizabeth I in 1600, the first step towards British rule of India during the 1800's. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 The Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I.

 Attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, ca. 1602

The process of transforming Elizabeth into an Icon of State culminated with the 1602 Rainbow Portrait. It is a surreal, unsettling work. The doll's face has been discarded for a human likeness, but not one that really resembled the elderly Elizabeth. This is not merely an idealized portrait but is, rather, the image of a "Fairie Queen" as the poet Edmund Spensor called Elizabeth. 

A coiled snake, supposedly representing wisdom, appears on one sleeve of this mythological Elizabeth who wields a rainbow in her right hand. A bizarre motif of eyes and ears is stitched on to Her Majesty's gown. Sovereign over land, sea and sky, able to see all and hear all, such is "Glorianna."

A year later, the Virgin Queen was dead. 

The last of the Tudors left no direct heir. The Scottish king, James Stuart, did have some Tudor blood in his veins. Equally important, James had a brilliant, handsome and charismatic son, Prince Henry Frederick. The English government swallowed their pride and invited James - and by extension young Prince Henry - to take the crown.

All signs pointed to future success. The legacy of the Tudor dynasty, a strong Protestant England, now loosely united to Scotland, seemed assured, provided Prince Henry succeeded James.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, by Robert Peake the Elder, 1603

The final work of art, on view in The Tudors: Art and Majesty, is a magnificent portrait of Prince Henry as he draws his sword to deliver the coup d'grace to a wounded stag. It was painted in 1603, soon after his father assumed power as King James I of England. 

The future promise, which seemed so certain with this fascinating portrait of a model Renaissance prince, never transpired. 

In 1612, Prince Henry fell ill from typhoid fever and died. His brother Charles, whose character was a dangerous mixture of obstinate stubbornness and irresolution, tried and failed to create a Renaissance Arcadia when he was crowned King of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1625. The English Civil War and the Puritan Revolt under Oliver Cromwell followed in due course, with the execution of Charles I in 1649 as the ultimate result.

When Prince Henry perished, the last vestiges of the Tudor dynasty died with him, leaving only a few, rare talismans of their glory to hang on museum walls. The fact that so little remains of the lost world of England during the 1500's, makes The Tudors: Art and Majesty a truly "once in a lifetime" museum experience.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Like the monarchs of the fabled dynasty it celebrates, The Tudors: Art and Majesty will not be soon forgotten.

***

Text and photos: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                        Original photos: Copyright of Anne Lloyd, all rights reserved

Introductory Image: Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Detail of The Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Queen Elizabeth I (The Darnley Portrait), by an Unknown Netherlandish Painter, 1576. Oil on canvas: 44 1/2 x 31 in. (113 x 78.7 cm) National Portrait Gallery, London.

 

Nicholas Hilliard (British, 1547-1619) The Heneage Jewel, ca. 1595-1600. Enameled gold, table-cut diamonds, Burmese rubies, rock crystal, and a miniature on vellum: 2 3/4 x 2 in. (7 x 5.1 cm) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Anne Lloyd, photo (2022) Elizabethan portraits on view at The Tudors: Art and Majesty, Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Hans Holbein the Younger's Henry VIII of England, ca. 1537. Oil on panel, 11 × 7 7/8 in. (28 × 20 cm) Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (191 [1934.39])

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Edward VI as a Child by Hans Holbein the Younger,  1538 Oil on panel: 22 3/8 × 17 5/16 in. (56.8 × 44 cm) National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1937.1.64)

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) Edward VI, attributed to Guillim Scrots, ca. 1547-50.  Oil on panel: 22 13/16 × 26 3/4 in. (58 × 68 cm) Compton Verney  Art Gallery and Park, Warwickshire, U.K.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Mary Tudor, Later Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk Michel Sittow (1468–1525/26) ca. 1514 Oil on panel, 11 5/16 × 8¼ in. (28.7 × 21 cm) Gemäldegalerie, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (GG 5612)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty showing  Michael Sittow's portrait of Mary Tudor, and, at right, the Book of Hours of Mary of England, Queen of France, created by the Master of Claude de France, ca. 1495-1500, with additions: 1514. Tempora on vellum: 5 3/8 x  3 3/16 x  9/16 in. (13.7 x 9.7 x 1.5 cm).  Bibliotheque Municipale de Lyon.

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of of The Tudors: Art and Majesty, showing Elizabeth I (The Hampden Portrait). Attributed to George Gower, Oil on canvas: transferred from panel: 77 3/16 × 55 1/8 in. (196 × 140 cm) Private collection. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty showing Queen Elizabeth I (The Ditchley Portrait), by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, ca. 1592. Oil on canvas: 95 x 60 in. (241 x 152 cm) National Portrait Gallery, London. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Details of the Hardwick Portrait of Elizabeth I, ca.1598-99. Attributed to the Workshop of Nicholas Hilliard. Oil on canvas: 91 7/16 × 66 1/4 x 1 7/16 in. (232.3 × 168.3 x 3.7 cm) National Trust, Hardwick Hall, the Devonshire Collction.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) The Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I. Attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, ca. 1602. Oil on canvas: 50 3/8 × 40 in. (128 x 101.6 cm) Marquess of Salisbury, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, U.K.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, with Sir John Harington on the Hunting Field, by Robert Peake the Elder, 1603. Oil on canvas: 79 1/2 × 58 in. (201.9 x 147.3 cm) Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Art Eyewitness Review: The Tudors: Art and Majesty

 

The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England

Metropolitan Museum of Art,

 October 10, 2022- January 8, 2023

Reviewed by Ed Voves

Original Photography by Anne  Lloyd

Roses are blooming in the Tisch Galleries, the special exhibition area of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is just one variety of rose on view and it emits no fragrant scent. But almost everywhere you look in the Tisch Galleries, you will see this remarkable flower.

The Tudor Rose. 

Created as an emblem of a unified English nation, the Tudor Rose symbolized the return of peace to England, following a long, savage civil war during the 1400's. But roses have thorns, too. As the Tudor Dynasty, 1485-1603, strengthened its control of England, the Tudor Rose was used to project the power of mighty monarchs, Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth I.

 The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England is currently on view in the Met's Tisch Galleries until early January 2023. Following their reign over the Tisch Galleries, The Tudors will travel to Cleveland and San Francisco. Without exaggeration, this exhibition is an astounding "time machine" transporting art lovers back to the 1500's. 

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty showing Michael Sittow's portrait of Mary Tudor, ca. 1514

Originally scheduled for the fall of 2020, the Met's 150th anniversary year, The Tudors: Art and Majesty presents a vast array of works of art, from sprawling wall-tapestries to gleaming silverplate to jem-like portraits created by Nicholas Hilliard, England's master of the Miniature.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

    Gallery view of The Tudors: Art & Majesty showing The “Sea-                 Dog” Table, ca. 1575, and The Division of the Booty from The Story of David and Bathsheba tapestry series, 1526-28.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty. The Silver Basin, in foreground, is attributed to Hans Holbein, ca. 1535

According to the "myth" history of England, the contending factions in the civil wars of the late 1400's identified their respective forces by a different colored rose, red for the House of Lancaster, white for the House of York. It was not quite that straightforward during the bloody course of events, which would not be popularly known as the Wars of the Roses until centuries later.

However, when the "last man standing," Henry Tudor, won the final battle at Bosworth Field in 1485, he saw the need to unite the survivors of both camps under a conciliatory banner. The Tudor Rose made its debut, when the triumphant Tudor, now Henry VII, married a princess of the House of York.

The Tudor Rose appeared in many guises. It was embroidered on sumptuous garments. It was affixed to Royal documents, as can be seen on the 1553 "Letters Patent" granting a heraldic coat of arms to William Paget, henceforth known as 1st Baron Paget de Beaudesert. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

Detail of Letters Patent Granting Arms to William Paget, 1553

Among the suits of armor on view in The Tudors: Art and Majesty, there is a particularly splendid example, owned by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. Dating to 1586, it is engraved with the fleur d' lis of France - England continued to claim dominion over France, despite defeat in the Hundred Years War - and the Tudor Rose.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) 

Helmet owned by George Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland,1586

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) 

Detail of Hans Holbein the Younger's Sir Thomas More, 1527

Perhaps the most impressive of all was the golden Tudor Rose suspended from the chain of office of the Lord Chancellor of England, the second most powerful man in the kingdom. 

Once in power, Henry VII (reigned 1485-1509) revealed himself as a thrifty, capable king. He kept England out of war, repairing its battered economy. Displays of Royal iconography, including the Tudor Rose, were carefully stage-managed to promote the image of responsible, not grandiose, monarchy.

Henry VII did devote significant funding to artistic and cultural programs, especially if such expenditure bolstered his image as a dutiful Christian king. His son and heir, Henry VIII did so too - initially.

As a result of the early Tudor emphasis on ecclesiastical art, the opening display of the Met's exhibition evokes a sense of medieval Christendom rather than English majesty. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty.

 Shown here are works by Benedetto da Rovezzano, Angels Bearing Candlesticks,  ca. 1524–29, and Candelabrum, ca. 1529–40

There is more than a touch of irony here as the pair of spectacular bronze angels (who wear headbands being a Tudor Rose medallion) and a towering candelabrum were made by Benedetto da Rovezzano (1474–1554), a Florentine sculptor who worked in England from 1519-1543.

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) 

Bronze Angel wearing Tudor Rose by Benedetto da Rovezzano

Benedetto's first English patron was the immensely ambitious Cardinal Wolsey who employed him to create bronze figures for his tomb, much as Michelangelo was contracted to do for Pope Julius II. When Wolsey fell from power, Henry VIII took over the tomb project for himself but it was never completed. 

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) 

Detail of Candelabrum by Benedetto da Rovezzano, ca. 1529-40

Much of Benedetto's English work was later dispersed. The candelabrum was sold by the Puritan regime of Oliver Cromwell during the 1650's. The candle-bearing angels, instead of guarding the remains of Cardinal Wolsey, disappeared into private hands until being recognized in recent decades. They are now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.  

 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Gallery view of The Tudors exhibit, showing the Luttrell Table Carpet

 

The most significant - and perhaps, surprising - treasures acquired by the Tudors were works of fabric art. These are brilliantly displayed in the Met's exhibit: tapestries, carpets, glittering examples of cloth of gold and religious vestments. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Fencing Doublet, ca. 1580

Some of the most spectacular items of personal clothing ever worn in Europe were created for the ruling elite of Tudor England. Very few examples of these remain, however. On view in the Met exhibit, there is a man's tight-fitting doublet, padded to protect against swords and daggers while fencing, and a pair of gloves.

The rare survivals in the other fabric categories reveal the rich world of color, texture and symbolism so prized by the Tudors. One example comes from a set of ten tapestries, The Story of the Redemption of Man. This was likely woven in the southern Netherlands (Belgium). In 1502, the entire set was purchased by Henry VII. If displayed side-by-side the ten tapestries would have extended more than a fifth of a mile. The other nine tapestries have not been seen since 1673. 

The surviving wall hanging of the set,The Creation and Fall of Man, is remarkable on many counts.  Of especial note is the manner in which the Divine Trinity is depicted. God the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit are shown in nearly identical form as crowned and robed rulers, each bearing a royal scepter. The Trinity appears seven times in this regal mode on the broad field of the tapestry, once for each of the Seven Days of Creation.

 

Ed Voves, Photo (2022)

 Detail of Creation and Fall of Man Tapestry, 1497–1502

Whatever the reason for departing from the traditional presentation of the Holy Trinity, the tremendous artistic skill used to create the images of the kingly Father, Son and Holy Spirit is of the highest caliber. 

Moreover, the emotion imparted to the faces of the Trinity testifies to a profound level of religious belief of both patrons and artists of the tapestry. The heartfelt religious convictions of the 1500's were indeed woven into the warp and woof of this magnificent wall hanging.

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) Henry VII Cope, 1499–1505

The same can said can be said of the Henry VII Cope. Worn by Catholic priests during the celebration of the Mass, this cope was part of a wardrobe of over thirty vestments commissioned for use in Westminster Abby. The total cost of these garments, made in Italy, has been calculated in the currency of the time, at £100,000. 

The staggering price tag can be explained by the materials used. The cope on view in the Met's exhibit was made of velvet cloth of gold with loops of gilded silver and silver-wrapped threads. The bands of embroidered decoration, examples of the celebrated Opus Anglicanum needle work, were added after the garments arrived in England. In the case of this cope, the embroidered decoration we see here was not original to it. Although dating to the same era, it was added at a later date.

Ed Voves, Photo (2022)

Detail of Henry VII Cope, showing Opus Anglicanum needle work

Judging from the attention and funding devoted to religious matters by the early Tudors, England's loyalty to the Roman Catholic faith seemed unshakable when Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation in 1517. Yet, during the next two decades, Henry VIII's break with the Papacy over his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, transformed the cultural, as well as the spiritual, landscape of England.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The "King's Great Matter" pitted Henry VIII against Emperor Charles V, the loyal nephew of Catherine of Aragon, as much as against the Papacy. Thus, the initial break with Rome was primarily a political act. In terms of The Met's exhibit, there are few works of art which evoke this epic event in European and British history, except for portraiture. 

That is a very big exception since it involved Han Holbein the Younger, the German/Swiss painter at the court of Henry VIII. Holbein was indisputably one of the greatest portrait painters in world history. Until the advent of photography, no historical era's "great and powerful" have ever be so brilliantly documented. Moreover, Holbein exerted such a powerful impact on British art that his presence continued to be felt long after he died, suddenly and unexpectedly, in 1543.  

                                                         

Hans Holbein the Younger 

 Henry VIII of England, ca. 1537

                                                                                                               Given the importance of portraiture under the Tudor dynasty and thus, as a component of The Tudors: Art and Majesty, I have elected to do a follow-up review which will focus exclusively on the portraits in the exhibition. Special attention will be paid to the attempt to turn the likeness of Elizabeth I into a near-religious icon.

The Tudors: Art and Majesty does include one work in its awesome array of art which indirectly addresses the horrific effect of the "King's Great Matter" and the persecutions and counter-persecutions which it triggered. 

 

Ed Voves, Photo (1922) Dirck Vellert's Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabee Brothers and Their Mother, ca. 1530-35

This is a stained glass window showing the Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabee Brothers and Their Mother. It was created by Dirck Vellert (ca. 1480/85–ca. 1547) during the crisis years of Henry's "Great Matter," though for which church or chapel is not known. Vellert was a highly regarded artist during his lifetime - Durer held him in great esteem - but much of his work was latter lost or destroyed. Many of his masterpieces were no doubt casualties in the wave of iconoclastic destruction which was part of the "radical" Reformation.

Vellert's Seven Maccabee Brothers shows the two-step process of discussion and debate followed by death and destruction which was taking place in Europe even as he worked on the design for this window.

Ed Voves, Photo (1922)

 Detail of Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabee Brothers and Their Mother

In the foreground, the Hellenistic Greek ruler, Antiochus IV, confers with members of his court on how to crush the rebellious Jews who refuse to endorse Greek customs such as eating pork. In the background, his troops  are executing his orders - literally.  Burning, flaying alive, beheading, the full "play-book" of state-terror tactics, it's all there illustrated in stained-glass.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) 

Hans Holbein the Younger's Sir Thomas More, 1527

On July 6, 1535, around the time that Vellert was completing the Seven Maccabee Brothers window, Sir Thomas More was beheaded on Tower Hill. More, who had only lately worn the golden Tudor Rose of the Lord Chancellor of England around his neck, was executed for refusing to take the oath acknowledging Henry VIII as the supreme leader of the Church of England.

History, as the tired old saying goes, always repeats itself. 

***

Text and photos: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                          Original photos: Copyright of Anne Lloyd, all rights reserved

Introductory Image: Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Henry VIII by the Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, ca 1540. Oil on panel: 93 5/8 × 52 3/4 in. (237.9 × 134 cm) Walker Art Gallery, National Museums, Liverpool 

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty showing  Michael Sittow's portrait of Mary Tudor, later Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk, ca. 1514. Oil on panel, 115/16 × 8¼ in. (28.7 × 21 cm) Gemäldegalerie, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty showing The “Sea-Dog” Table , ca. 1575. Walnut wood, gilded silver, marbled inlay, 33½ × 58 × 33½ in. (85 × 147 × 85 cm) National Trust, Hardwick Hall, The Devonshire Collection and The Division of the Booty from The Story of David and Bathsheba tapestry series, made by an unknown Flemish artist, ca. 1526-28, 10-piece set. Wool, silk and gilded silver metal-wrapped threads: 15 ft. 5/16 in. x 19 ft. 5 7/8 in. ( 458 x 594 cm) Musee national de la Renaissance, chateau d'Ecouen, France.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty. In the foreground is a Basin, attributed to design by Hans Holbein the Younger, ca. 1535-36. Silver, gilded silver with colored enameling: 2 1/16 x 17 1/2 - 17 1/16 in. (5.2 cm x 44.5 -44.9 cm) Focke Museum, Bremen, Germany.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Detail of Letters Patent Granting Arms to William Paget, 1st Baron Paget de Beaudesert, by King Edward VI, March 25, 1553 Ink and bodycolor on vellum, with wax seal, 34¼ × 367/16 in. (87 × 92.5 cm) Marquess of Anglesey, Plas Newydd, Anglesey 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Helmet from the Armor Garniture owned by George Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland,1586. Made under the direction of Jacob Halder, master armorer at the Royal Workshops at Greenwich. Steel, gold, leather, textile: H. 69 1/2 in. (176.5 cm), W.60 lb. (27.2 kg) The Metropolitan Museum

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Detail  of Han Holbein the Younger's Sir Thomas More, 1527. Oil on panel: 29 ½ x 23 ¾ inches The Frick Collection.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty. Shown are: Angels Bearing Candlesticks, created by Benedetto da Rovezzano, ca. 1524–29. Bronze, each 39¾ × 193/4 × 13 in. (101 × 50 × 33 cm) Victoria and Albert Museum, London (A.1-2015, A.2-2015)  & Candelabrum  by Benedetto da Rovezzano , ca. 1529–40 Bronze, 106¼ × 17¾ × 17¾ in. (270 × 45 × 45 cm) Sint-Baafskathedraal, Ghent.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Gallery view of The Tudors: Art and Majesty, showing the Luttrell Table Carpet, before 1580. Wool, silk, gilded silver and silver metal wrapped threads: 6 ft. 4 in. x 18 ft. 15/16 in. (193 x 651 cm) Glasgow City Council, the Burrell Collection, Glasgow.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Fencing Doublet, ca. 1580. Leather, silk, linen, cotton: H. 30 in. (76.2 cm) W. 24 3/4 in. (60.3 cm)  D. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)  The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Detail of Creation and Fall of Man Tapestry from a Ten-Piece Set of the Story of the Redemption of Man, designed by an unknown Flemish artist, ca. 1497–99 Probably Brussels, before 1502. Wool (warp), wool, silk, silver, and gilded-silver metal-wrapped threads (wefts:167¾ × 3291/8 in. (426 × 836 cm) Cathédrale Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur, Narbonne 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Henry VII Cope, 1499–1505. Velvet cloth of gold, made in Italy, brocaded with loops of gilded silver and silver metal wrapped threads. Orphrey and hood: England, ca. 1500. Linen embroidered with silk and gilded-silver metal-wrapped threads: 64 1/8 × 130¾ in. (163 × 332 cm) Trustees of the British Jesuit Province–Jesuits in Britain

Hans Holbein the Younger (German/Swiss, 1497/98–1543) Henry VIII of England, ca. 1537. Oil on panel, 11 × 7 7/8 in. (28 × 20 cm) Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (191 [1934.39])

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabee Brothers and Their Mother, designed and executed by Dirck Vellert, ca. 1530-35. Stained glass: 27 3/4 x 18 1/2 in. (70. x 47 cm).The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Hans Holbein the Younger's Sir Thomas More, 1527. Oil on panel: 29 ½ x 23 ¾ inches The Frick Collection.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

 

Art Eyewitness Book Review: Van Gogh Must-Reads

Van Gogh Must-Reads
A Selection of Recent Books on Vincent van Gogh

Reviewed by Ed Voves

The Detroit Institute of Art (DIA)  recently opened a special exhibition celebrating the one hundred year anniversary of the acquisition of a self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh. Back in the 1920's, the DIA's purchase of  a work by Van Gogh  was a bold move. It was the first Van Gogh painting to enter the collection of a U.S. art museum.

Although American private collectors had previously bought Van Gogh paintings, the major U.S. museums continued to refrain from adding works by the Dutch painter to their permanent holdings. In January 1922, Ralph Booth, president of the City of Detroit Art Commission took the plunge, spending $4,200 (the equivalent of $75,000 today) for the Van Gogh self-portrait. Given the prices that a Van Gogh fetches these days, Booth's purchase was the bargain of the 20th Century.

The DIA's exhibition, Van Gogh in America, sounds fantastic, with 74 paintings on display. Considering the adversity which the DIA has faced over the past decade, owing to the budget woes of the city of Detroit, it is great to see that this fine museum is able to savor a well-deserved moment of triumph.

Sadly, I'm not going to be visiting Detroit any time soon and the exhibition is not traveling  elsewhere in the U.S. I will just have to content myself with a consolation prize from the vast range of Van Gogh products which seem to be everywhere this year. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) View of the book store & gift shop at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, showing  Van Gogh-related products

Van Gogh coloring books (for adults and for children), Van Gogh scarves, Van Gogh socks, Van Gogh Christmas tree ornaments, Van Gogh tote bags to hold all these Van Gogh goodies. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

 Van Gogh doll on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art gift shop

Being an old fashined guy, I will content myself by enjoying the volumes about Vincent van Gogh which have been waiting impatiently on my book shelf for me to read.

In this essay, we will consider four outstanding books on Van Gogh's life, death and redemption: Vincent Van Gogh: A Life in Letters, edited by Nienke Bakker, Leo Jansen and Hans Luitjen (2020); Steven Naifeh's Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved (2021); Who Shot Van Gogh by Alan Turnbull (2022) and a just published biography of Van Gogh's sister-in-law, Jo Van Gogh-Bonger, the Woman who Made Vincent Famous (2022).

Vincent Van Gogh: A Life in Letters (Thames & Hudson, 2020) is an absolutely essential book for any art enthusiast or scholar devoted to Van Gogh. It is a much shortened version of the incomparable Vincent van Gogh: The Letters: The Complete Illustrated and Annotated Edition, published in 2009.

A Life in Letters features 76 unabridged letters of the surviving 820 written by Van Gogh. These are mostly addressed to his brother, Theo, but also to his sister, Willemien, and to fellow artists like Emile Bernard. A number of the letters are shown in facsimile. Abundant illustrations, mostly of Van Gogh's drawings, but also some paintings, are carefully juxtaposed with the text of the letters. These letters and sketches are the distilled essence of Van Gogh's incredible life.

Vincent van Gogh, Letter to Emile Bernard, June 19, 1888

 Letter 628A, with sketch of Sower with Setting Sun

Rather than treat a sample of the  letters with short, superficial excerpts, I am going to pick one to comment upon, since it bears directly on the whole of Van Gogh's life.

In the postscript to his August 7, 1883 letter to Theo, Van Gogh wrote "For no particular reason I can’t help adding something here that’s just a recurring thought of mine."

That "something" was his mortality, the years remaining to devote himself to achieve the work he was born to do.

My plan is not to spare myself, not to avoid a lot of emotions or difficulties. It’s a matter of relative indifference to me whether I live a long or a short time. Moreover, I’m not competent to manage myself in physical matters the way a doctor can in this respect. So I carry on as one unknowing but who knows this one thing — ‘I must finish a particular work within a few years’ — I needn’t rush myself, for that does no good — but I must carry on working in calm and serenity, as regularly and concentratedly as possible, as succinctly as possible. I’m concerned with the world only in that I have a certain obligation and duty, as it were — because I’ve walked the earth for 30 years — to leave a certain souvenir in the form of drawings or paintings in gratitude. Not done to please some movement or other, but in which an honest human feeling is expressed.

This "P.S." to Theo is a forecast of Van Gogh's drive to make a positive addition to the culture of Humankind - "a certain souvenir" - regardless  of what it cost him or the people in his life. And the powerful expression, quoted above, was only part of a passion-filled torrent of words which would draw to a close in boldface, "SOMETHING MUST BE DONE."

Something, a lot of things, were done, albeit in such contradictory fashion by Van Gogh that it's difficult to keep track. An impressive attempt to resolve the many mysteries surrounding Van Gogh is provided by Alan Turnbull in Who Shot Van Gogh? Facts and Counterfacts (Thames & Hudson, 256 pages, $ 24.95). 

This provocatively-titled book does indeed investigate the numerous questions concerning Van Gogh's death. But the scope of Who Shot Van Gogh? is far more than a "Crime Scene 1890." Turnbull's book is a careful compilation of the events, comments, opinions (by and about), achievements and failures of Van Gogh's life and afterlife. 

 A prodigious amount of research went into the creation of Who Shot Van Gogh? Turnbull's occasional reflections are quite moving, often profoundly so. However, Turnbull, in weighing the "evidence," does not pronounce definitive judgement. That task is reserved for us, the readers.

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait, 1887

What Turnbull shows, beyond dispute, is that Van Gogh worked with a life-consuming determination to express and to resolve the visions, doubts and contradictions in his life. Turnbull notes that in his final period of painting,  sixty-nine days spent at Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Gogh completed seventy-two paintings and thirty-three drawings.

Vincent van Gogh, Wheat Fields with Reaper - Auvers, 1890

Van Gogh described his mode of work as "Quick quick quick and in a hurry, like the reaper who is silent under the blazing sun, concentrating on getting the job done."

Van Gogh the "reaper"  harvested a life's work of masterpieces created in less than a decade, at a cost of lost years of life expectancy. Had Van Gogh not succumbed to a gun shot wound in July 1890,  he almost certainly would have worn-down his strength and energy reserves to a breaking point soon after.

A similar process of "reaping" had scythed its way through just about every friendship and relationship in Van Gogh's life. In one of the topical sections in his book, "Living with Vincent," Turnbull quotes numerous family members, friends and fellow artists on the impossibility of living with Van Gogh. Threats of physical violence by Van Gogh were alleged by several artists, including Gauguin. Some of these remarks may have been exaggerated but comments by his brother, Theo, can be trusted.

After Vincent moved-in, uninvited to his Paris apartment in 1886, Theo wrote to their sister, Wil:

No one wants to come by any more because it always leads to rows, and he's so filthy and slovenly that the household looks anything but inviting. It's as if there are two people in him, the one marvelously gifted, sensitive and gentle, and the other self-loving and unfeeling.

Turnbull thoroughly documents the fact that, while Van Gogh suffered much for the sake of art, he was frequently insufferable towards those who helped  him. He received generous allowances from his father (at one point, amounting to 60 francs, a third of his father's monthly salary) and later from Theo. These hard-earned sums enabled Van Gogh to use expensive paints and art materials at a prodigal rate which astonished other artists. 

Such liberality was not returned with lasting displays of gratitude, especially in the case of his father, whose early death was likely triggered by Van Gogh's belligerence. Family, friends and fellow artists encouraged him only to be dismissed or spurned as his tortured mind dictated.

Turnbull quotes a French officer who was acquainted with Van Gogh in Arles. Van Gogh, Lieutenant Millet observed, acted "like someone who has lived a long time in the desert." 

In an amazing turn of life's wheel of fortune, Van Gogh was embraced as a martyr and saint in the increasingly secular period following World War I. German art historians provided the first "spin" and a crowd of art enthusiasts followed suit. Perhaps with an uneasy conscience about the $4,200 spent on Van Gogh's Self-Portrait, the Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Art for 1923 stated that Van Gogh "was possessed of a divine fire that continually threatened to consume him."                                                                                                                                                                                        Turnbull concludes his discussion of the "Christ of Modern Art" with a quote from Van Gogh to his sister, "I wouldn't wish for a martyr's career in any circumstances." 

How then can we find a common thread or a measure of coherence in the seething mass of "facts and counterfacts" compiled by Turnbull? Steven Naifeh's Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved (2021) provides a unifying theme.  

Most students of Van Gogh's art will immediately recognize Steven Naifeh as one of the co-authors of Van Gogh: the Life (2012). This mighty biography, written by Naifeh and Gregory Smith, was a thoroughly researched and compelling study.  It was controversial book, as it contended that Van Gogh died from a gun-shot wound which was not self-inflicted. 

Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved  avoids the minefield of controversy. This new volume is a sensitive, beautifully illustrated survey of Van Gogh as art student, critic and artist. 

Van Gogh's taste in artists was very much of his era. Naifeh examines his  interest in artistic movements which were already well-established by the time he began to paint in late 1881. The Barbizon painters in France, the Hague School in his native Netherlands and the Graphic Arts movement in England all left a significant mark on Van Gogh. 

Joining the ranks of a particular artistic group was another mater. During the 1870's, Van Gogh worked as a clerk-assistant in the prestigious art firm of Goupil & Cie. He was employed at the Paris branch for a time, placing him in close proximity to the revolutionary exhibitions of the "New Painting" by Claude Monet and his compatriots. Based on his letters, Van Gogh appears to have been totally oblivious of the Impressionist drama during its early years. 

Later, in 1884 when the Impressionists were gaining acceptance, Van Gogh continued to shrug them off. In a letter to Theo, who was encouraging him to consider the techniques of the Impressionists, Van Gogh wrote, "And from what you told me about "impressionism, it's not quite clear to me what it really is."

Vincent van Gogh, Montmartre: Windmills and Allotments, 1887

Eventually, as Naifeh relates, Van Gogh embraced the color palatte of the Impressionists. Almost simultaneously, he explored themes and technical innovations from Georges Seurat and the Pointillists, introduced at the final Impressionist exhibition of 1886. It was never a matter of "either/or." In a memorable summation of Van Gogh's artistic progress, Naifeh writes:

In his race to make up for lost time, Van Gogh jumped back and forth over ideological chasms that brought other artists to blows, combining Impressionist brushwork and the new Pointillist dots ... in the same image.

Van Gogh derived inspiration from particular artists rather than "schools" of painting. Naifeh enables us to appreciate how the influence of painters like Leon-Auguste Lhermitte (1844-1925) was translated and transmitted into works like The Red Vineyard, the only painting Van Gogh sold during his lifetime.

Leon-Augustin Lhermitte, The Gleaners, 1887

Vincent van Gogh, The Red Vineyard at Arles, 1888

Naifeh quotes Van Gogh about Lhermitte, who specialized in depictions of the hard-working peasants of France.

Lhermitte's secret, it seems to me, is none other than he knows the figure in general - namely the sturdy, severe workman's figures - through and through, and takes his subjects from the heart of the people. To  reach the same level as he - one shouldn't talk of that - one must work and see how far one gets. Because talking about it would be presumptuous on my part, I believe, while working, on the other hand, would be a sign of respect and trust and faith in artists like him.

Respect. Trust. Faith. These were potent words for Van Gogh, but fundamentally so in the context of his work. 

"One must work and see how far one gets."

With almost reckless resolve, Van Gogh commenced work on a subject taken from the oeuvre of Rembrandt: The Raising of Lazarus. This occurred in May 1890, only a few weeks before his death. By then, Van Gogh had completely turned against organized religion. Yet here, in his final visual statement of a Christian theme, Van Gogh chose to do so in company with the great Rembrandt.

Van Gogh's painting is based on Rembrandt's engraving and etching, created around 1632, of the incident in the New Testament when Jesus restored his friend, Lazarus, from death to life. Far from a slavish reworking of Rembrandt's print, Van Gogh interpreted this scene from a new, unorthodox point of view.

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1632

Rembrandt positioned Jesus, summoning Lazarus back to life, in a commanding place in his print. Van Gogh seemingly dispenses with Jesus, showing only Lazarus, who has a red beard like his own, and two mourners.

 

Vincent van Gogh, The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt), 1890

From this vantage point, are we asked to see the event as Jesus did? Or more controversially, is Van Gogh making a statement on the spark of divinity which is in each of us? If so, the unseen protagonist of this picture is "not I, but Christ in me." 

In a way, each art lover has the power of life or death over a painting or sculpture. Each time we stop to look and reflect on a work of art, it awakens to life and, given our degree of interest, responds to love. In Van Gogh's case, we are able to do so because of the incredible act of devotion bestowed upon him and his paintings, drawings and correspondence by his sister-in-law, Jo van Gogh-Bonger.

A major biography, just published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts, details the decades-long effort by Theo's young wife to preserve and popularize van Gogh's paintings and letters following his death. Jo Van Gogh-Bonger, the Woman who Made Vincent Famous was written by Hans Luitjen, one of the editors of Vincent Van Gogh: A Life in Letters. I became aware of this new book after I started planning this essay, but had to include it, even though I have not completed reading. It is, beyond doubt, a powerful  biography and I plan a full-review in the new year.

Jo Van Gogh-Bonger and her son, Vincent, c. July 1890

The task of preserving the legacy of Vincent van Gogh should have fallen to Theo. But he died, tragically and painfully, six months after Vincent. For the next thirty-five years, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, worked relentlessly "for the glory of Vincent" by organizing exhibitions, translating and publishing his letters and selling paintings and drawings to a growing international clientele. 

In 1924, Jo van Gogh-Bonger sold one of Van Gogh's Sunflowers to the National Gallery of London. It was reluctant decision, as this was one of her favorite paintings by Vincent. But it was a landmark event in his transition to the status of an icon of Modern Art.

Jo van Gogh-Bonger's story is so compelling, because it transcends matters of aesthetics or calculations of monetary value. She nurtured an unshakable  commitment to her dead husband and brother-in-law and to her infant son, named Vincent for his uncle. 

"SOMETHING MUST BE DONE." So Vincent van Gogh had written in 1883 as he made the first real strides in his artistic career. That determination carried over to the life of Jo van Gogh-Bonger and her mission to share Vincent's art with the world.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2021) Gallery view of the 19th century European art galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

There is a level of against-all-odds courage, in the resolve of Vincent van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. They are heroic figures, worthy exemplars for us in the very troubled world of the twenty-first century. That is why we react so strongly to Vincent today and, as more people read the new biography of Jo, I believe  will feel the same high regard for her.

In the words of Steven Naifeh:

Through a seamless, spontaneous interweaving of personal preoccupations and artistic calculations, private demons and creative passions, favorite paintings and favorite novels, Van Gogh was achieving an entirely new kind of art. His letters are filled with the uncertainty of a man who finds himself either on the edge of a new world or at the end of a long limb.

That is where we are today, as 2022 fades into the past and 2023 beckons. We live in a world filled with uncertainty, a world on "edge." But if we keep looking at Starry Night and pondering the passionate words of Van Gogh's letters to Theo, we may just find enough courage in ourselves to keep holding-on and to keep reaching out.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                                              Book cover illustrations courtesy of Thames & Hudson, Ltd. and Random House publishing company 

Introductory Image: Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, 1887. Oil on canvas:  13.7 x 10.5 in. (34.9 x 26.7 cm).  Detroit Institute of Art.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) View of the book store & gift shop at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, showing display of Van Gogh-related products.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Van Gogh doll on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art gift shop.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) Letter to Emile Bernard, June 19, 1888. Letter 628A, with sketch of Sower with Setting Sun. Morgan Library and Museum, N.Y.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) Self-Portrait, c.1887. Oil on canvas: 15 5/8 x 13 3/8 in. (40.3 x 34 cm). Wadsworth Atheneum. Gift of Phillip L. Goodwin. #1954.189

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) Wheat Fields with Reaper - Auvers, 1890. Oil on canvas:  29 x 36 5/8 in. (73.6 x 93 cm). Toledo Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) Montmartre: Windmills and Allotments, 1887. Oil on canvas: 45.5 cm x 59.1 cm. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Van Gogh Foundation)

Leon-Augustin Lhermitte (1844-1925), The Gleaners, 1887. Oil on canvas: 29 1/2 x 37 1/4 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) The Red Vineyard at Arles, 1888. Oil on canvas: 28 3/4 x 35 7/8 in. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669) The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1632. Etching and Engraving: 14 1/2 x 10 1/16 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt), 1890. Oil on paper: 19 11/16 x 23 13/16 in. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Van Gogh Foundation)

Jo Van Gogh-Bonger and her son, Vincent, c. July 1890. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Van Gogh Foundation)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2021) Gallery view of the 19th century European art galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.