Building The Picture Of The Renaissance At The National Gallery

Tabish Khan
By Tabish Khan Last edited 118 months ago
Building The Picture Of The Renaissance At The National Gallery
Carlo Crivelli 
The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius, 1486
© The National Gallery, London
Carlo Crivelli The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius, 1486 © The National Gallery, London
Sandro Botticelli 
The Adoration of the Kings, about 1470-5
© The National Gallery, London
Sandro Botticelli The Adoration of the Kings, about 1470-5 © The National Gallery, London
Sandro Botticelli 
The Adoration of the Kings, about 1470-5
© The National Gallery, London
Sandro Botticelli The Adoration of the Kings, about 1470-5 © The National Gallery, London
Ercole de' Roberti
Nativity, about 1490-93
© The National Gallery, London
Ercole de' Roberti Nativity, about 1490-93 © The National Gallery, London
Antonello da Messina 
Saint Jerome in his Study, about 1475
© The National Gallery, London
Antonello da Messina Saint Jerome in his Study, about 1475 © The National Gallery, London
Gerolamo da Vicenza 
The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin, 1488
© The National Gallery, London
Gerolamo da Vicenza The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin, 1488 © The National Gallery, London

The National Gallery has put on an exhibition that explores the role of architecture in Italian Renaissance paintings. 'Educational' exhibitions like this can often feel very academic and therefore difficult to engage with. This exhibition does start slow with some preparatory drawings but as visitors step inside the main rooms of the exhibition, it comes to life both with great works and some excellent architectural insights.

Architecture plays a significant role in focussing where the viewer's attention should lie when looking at a painting. This is most obvious in Carlo Crivelli's Annunciation where the Virgin is in the bottom right of the painting but our eyes are drawn to her by a beam of light signifying the Holy Spirit cutting across the piece.

In one work a pink building plays off the pink cheeks of Helen of Troy as she is abducted, and the use of landmarks such as the Piazza di San Marco instantly places a scene in Venice, thus giving it some context. As expected for the Renaissance, there is plenty of religious symbolism within the architecture, such as a Christ child within ruins, signifying that he has been born to bring in a new order that will replace the old.

Despite some excellent works here, there are no big names, save for some Botticelli's. But as an exploration of the impact of architecture within Renaissance painting, this exhibition offers some impressive insights while also featuring some great works.

Building the Picture: Architecture in Italian Renaissance Painting is on at The National Gallery until 21 September. Admission is free.

Also still on at the National Gallery are the magnificent Veronese blockbuster and the last week of Strange Beauty: Masters of the German Renaissance.

For more art to see in London, check out our May listings

Last Updated 06 May 2014