‘Cartes de visite’ were the first form of affordable mass-produced photography. These images of families and friends, royalty and celebrities of the day were wildly popular during the Victorian era. Queen Victoria herself helped spread the craze by building her own collection. People collected photographs of their families and friends, royalty and celebrities of the […]
Portraying Pregnancy is a major exhibition exploring representations of the pregnant female body through portraits, over 500 years. Until the twentieth century, many women spent most of their adult years pregnant. Despite this, pregnancies are seldom apparent in surviving portraits. This exhibition brings together images of women – mainly British – who were depicted at […]
Submission deadline: 12 January 2020 Conference: 29-30 June 2020, Hampton Court Palace In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Field of Cloth of Gold and as part of the AHRC funded Network Henry VIII on Tour: Tudor Palaces and Royal Progresses, Historic Royal Palaces will be hosting a two-day conference on 29-30 June 2020 […]
George IV is arguably the most magnificent of British monarchs and formed an unrivalled collection of art, much of which remains in the Royal Collection. As Prince of Wales and, from 1820, magnificent king, he purchased paintings, metalwork, textiles, furniture, watercolours, books and ceramics in vast numbers, many of these works by the finest artists […]
Following a successful fundraising campaign, the Charles Dickens Museum has raised £180,000 to acquire a ‘lost portrait’ of Charles Dickens, painted by Margaret Gillies in 1843 when the author was only 31 years old. We are now preparing to put this small, striking portrait on display in the museum, which is based in 48 Doughty […]
July’s study day was too good an opportunity to miss, with expert-led tours of two contrasting private collections right on Reading Museum’s doorstep. We hoped that the day might reveal new insights and links to our museum’s own collections including portraits, and we were not to be disappointed. The morning started at Douai Abbey in […]
In my job, time to reflect and slow down can be hard to come by, and so the opportunity to spend the day thinking and learning about Catholic portraiture with a coterie of UBP delegates was one not to be missed. I work as the House Steward at Coughton Court in Warwickshire, a National Trust […]
Justin Nolan, Deputy Director at Eton College, extended a warm welcome to UBP group members on the 4 April. Fellow staff and researchers connected to the College joined him in this, initiating an attitude of generosity to share knowledge and experience, which was maintained throughout the study day. Nolan outlined Eton’s recently adopted commitment to […]
