Upon staying at my grandparents’ house in London we decided to make use of our time by visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum which is conveniently neighboured to South Kensington Station, so our worries of having to trek through the bitter cold weather were defused!
Due to a busy time schedule we could not stay at the museum for too long but long enough to appreciate the huge array of artefacts that were on display. Cut for time, I chose to explore the “Medieval & Renaissance 1350-1600” exhibition which covered three entire floors. Having recently read a number of books detailing Renaissance Florence under Medici rule, it felt right to get a first-hand view of the objects which were present in a time and place which turned the very cogs of the historical period which would be come to be known as the Renaissance.
I was first greeted by the pulchrous works of the artist Raphael who took over Michelangelo’s prominent role as the main artist in Florence. I was taken aback by the sheer scale of his paintings and what interested me was his constant depiction of biblical events which occurred in the New Testament. I was particularly analytical of his work “The Miraculous Draft of Fishes”, familiarising it with the Call of the Disciples, having studied the Gospel of Mark. What we can infer from this painting is that Raphael wishes to present Jesus as humanly suggested by the similarities in clothing between Jesus and the fishermen. The stark white robe covering Jesus’ underclothes is a massive contrast to the more neatly blended, complimentary colours which Raphael seems to use on the rest of the painting.
The Renaissance saw the birth of humanism, which was confirmed through the art which was produced in this period. The sculpture “The Rape of Proserpina” by Vincenzo de’ Rossi displays Pluto, the Roman King of the Underworld violently handling Proserpina who can be seen desperately struggling to break free from the clutches of the majesty of the dead. The negative connotations of this sculpture are only amplified by the choice of a depressingly dark bronze which confirms Proserpina’s ill-fate.
I also came across the Medici coat of arms (stemma) during the reign of Lorenzo il Magnifico’s son, Pope Leo X. It shows the six palle (balls) which were traditionally depicted on the Medici stemma. However, in addition to this, there is a tiara and crossed keys depicted which signify Giovanni de’ Medici’s ascendancy to the papacy.
Though what I was most excited about seeing was the “Labours of the Months”, produced by Luca della Robbia for Piero the Gouty’s study in the Palazzo Medici. It depicts the agricultural labours which occurred throughout the year, each of the twelve dishes having its own zodiac sign on it in correspondence to the depiction of day and night.
Attached are the photos I took on my phone whilst at the Museum.
History is our Future 