back to overview
 
535 photos
Rossetti lamenting the death of his wombat, 1869. Dante Gabriel Rossetti loved exotic animals and began to collect them with a passion after the tragic death of his wife Elizabeth Siddal in 1862. He had moved to 16 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, a house with a large garden that soon became a miniature zoo. The wombats had a special place in Rossetti's heart. In a letter to his brother he described the arrival of the first one as 'a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness'. This drawing commemorates the short-lived second wombat. Instead of being laid to rest in the tomb depicted in the background, the marsupial was stuffed and placed in Rossetti's entrance hall. PD, 1939-5-13-6
#33010965

Rossetti lamenting the death of his wombat, 1869. Dante Gabriel Rossetti loved e...

'Horse-breaking', Japan, c1560s. This is an autumn landscape in the mountains, with the leaves of the maple tree changing colour. Two horses are swimming in the river at the bottom of the composition, three more are galloping into view at the top, and in the centre, on a flat promontory in the water, a sixth is being ridden bareback and rears up, as three men try to pacify it. The basic forms are done in ink, with delicate use of light colours on the rocks, horses, and figures. A mist of gold dust floats over the scene, but this is not meant to provide the usual spatial abstraction. This rare work is invaluable in allowing us to see how a Tosa artist incorporated the realistic spirit of Chinese painting. JA, JP ADD919 (1989.12-21.01)
#33011029

'Horse-breaking', Japan, c1560s. This is an autumn landscape in the mountains, w...

'Young Woman Fanning a fire with a bird's wing', 1469. The meaning of this curious drawing is unclear. The young woman who lifts the front of her dress and who fans the flames with a bird's wing may symbolically refer to 'fanning the flames of desire'. It is also unclear if the flower at upper left is connected with the rest of the drawing. PD, 1884-9-13-14
#330111 1

'Young Woman Fanning a fire with a bird's wing', 1469. The meaning of this curio...

Les glaneuses - The gleaners, before 1857. Chalk on paper, 29,5 x 44 cm
#330111 4

Les glaneuses - The gleaners, before 1857. Chalk on paper, 29,5 x 44 cm

Design for a flying machine. Pen on paper
#330111 5

Design for a flying machine. Pen on paper

Design for a flying machine. Pen on paper
#330111 6

Design for a flying machine. Pen on paper

Design for various war vehicles. Pen on paper
#330111 7

Design for various war vehicles. Pen on paper

Design for a flying machine. Pen on paper
#330111 8

Design for a flying machine. Pen on paper

An artist drawing a seated man on to a plane of glass through a sight vane. llustration from Albrecht Duerer's Treatise on the Art of Measurement ("Vnderweysung der messung"), first edition published by Hieronymus Andreae, Nuremberg, 1525. Woodcut, 132 x 148mm. (fol. Q2v.)
#33020353

An artist drawing a seated man on to a plane of glass through a sight vane. llus...

Albrecht Duerer - Self-Portrait at the Age of Thirteen. Silverpoint on paper, 275 x 196mm.
#33020567

Albrecht Duerer - Self-Portrait at the Age of Thirteen. Silverpoint on paper, 2...

Portrait of composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1806). Pencil sketch drawn in London in 1794. Pencil on paper, 24,6 x 18,7cm. See also 33-02-07/10
#33020659

Portrait of composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1806). Pencil sketch drawn in London in...

Portrait of composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1806). Pencil on paper, 25,5 x 19cm. 20 March 1794. See also 33-02-06/59
#33020710

Portrait of composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1806). Pencil on paper, 25,5 x 19cm. 20...