Turner’s ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ Back on Display at Greenwich
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From the press release (via Art Daily) . . .
2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), one of Britain’s most admired Romantic painters. To commemorate this landmark anniversary, the National Maritime Museum is returning one of Turner’s most important masterpieces to display in the Queen’s House. The Battle of Trafalgar will be on public display from 21 October 2025, 220 years to the day since the Battle of Trafalgar.
Measuring more than three metres across, The Battle of Trafalgar is the largest painting that Turner ever completed. It commemorates the most decisive naval action of the Napoleonic Wars, the victory of the British Royal Navy over a combined French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. The painting was made for King George IV in 1824—Turner’s only royal commission. It initially attracted criticism from naval officials, who complained about factual inaccuracies, but it was later acclaimed as a highlight of the Naval Gallery—a popular public art gallery set within the grounds of the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich.
In The Battle of Trafalgar, Turner captures the human drama of the action, from the struggles of the ordinary sailors to the fatal wounding of their commander, Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson. The finished composition is a symbolic amalgamation of different moments in the battle. Nelson’s flagship, Victory, is depicted on an exaggerated scale, an artistic decision intended to emphasise the might of British naval power. The ship’s falling foremast, bearing the vice-admiral’s flag, symbolises Nelson’s demise. The signal flags spell the final three letters of ‘duty’, referencing both Nelson’s famous order, “England expects every man to do his duty,” and some of his dying words, “Thank God I have done my duty.”
The French ship Redoubtable, from which the fatal shot came, foundered in a storm after the battle but is depicted sinking in the thick of the action. In compressing the timeline, Turner emphasised the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet. However, while celebrating Britain’s triumph, Turner did not shy away from the brutal realities of naval warfare and encouraged respect and sympathy for sailors manning the ships on both sides of the conflict. In the centre of the image, at what would have been eye level when the painting was first displayed in St James’s Palace, the lifeless eyes of a dead seafarer gaze out. The Latin word ‘ferat’ appears in the water beside him, recalling Nelson’s motto, Palam qui meruit ferat (‘Let him who has earned it bear the Palm’). The palm referenced in the motto was a traditional symbol of victory, but the sailor’s suffering undermines this noble ideal of glory.
In 1829, George IV had Turner’s The Battle of Trafalgar transferred from St James’s Palace to the Naval Gallery. Greenwich Hospital, where the gallery was situated, provided accommodation for elderly and disabled naval veterans, many of whom had served at Trafalgar. This made it a fitting home for Turner’s painting, given its emphasis on the labour and suffering of common sailors.
The painting was taken off display in March 2024 to protect it during a capital project at the National Maritime Museum. Its new home places it within the heart of the Museum’s fine art collection in the Queen’s House art gallery. It will be displayed alongside artworks from the Museum’s collection that tell the story of its journey from St James’s Palace to the Naval Gallery at Greenwich.
A new book has also been published celebrating this exceptional artwork. J.M.W. Turner’s The Battle of Trafalgar: Commemoration and Controversy is part of Royal Museums Greenwich’s new Spotlight series. Curator Katherine Gazzard considers the challenges that Turner faced during the creation of the painting, the public response to it and the fascinating history that led to its place at the centre of a national art collection.
Katherine Gazzard, J.M.W. The Battle of Trafalgar: Commemoration and Controversy (Greenwich: Royal Museums Greenwich, 2025), 96 pages, ISBN: 978-1068765995, £13.
Exhibitions | Casanova and Venice / Casanova and Europe
Francesco Guardi, View of San Giorgio Maggiore
(Venice: Fondazione Giorgio Cini)
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From the Fondazione Giorgio Cini:
Casanova and Venice
Palazzo Cini, Venice, 27 September 2025 — 2 March 2026
Casanova and Europe: An Opera in Multiple Acts
San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 17 October 2025 – 2 March 2026
On the 300th anniversary of the birth of Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798), the Fondazione Giorgio Cini is dedicating a major exhibition and cultural project to the celebrated Venetian. The first chapter of the double exhibition opens at Palazzo Cini in San Vio on September 27. Curated by the Institute of Art History, with the participation of the Institute for Theater and Opera, the exhibition traces the multifaceted figure of Casanova—scholar, memoirist, philosopher, alchemist, traveler, and diplomat—throughout a restless century that ended with the fall of the Serenissima. Through nearly one hundred works including paintings, engravings, books, objets d’art, and documents from the Foundation’s collections and prestigious Italian and European institutions, the exhibition recounts the refined, cultured, and contradictory world of the Venetian 18th century—Casanova’s century.
The exhibition is part of a wider cultural program involving all the Fondazione Giorgio Cini institutions, with conferences, concerts, and seminars dedicated to the link between Casanova, Venice, and Europe. The aim is to present a complex and multidisciplinary portrait of one of the most iconic figures in the history of Venice, who was a central figure during the final century of the Serenissima’s existence. The Foundation celebrates the European spirit embodied by Casanova.
“The project dedicated to Casanova is an opportunity to highlight the deep connection between the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and the city, its history, and its cultural context, drawing inspiration,” explains President Gianfelice Rocca, “from the great personalities and significant themes that have shaped history. It is an opportunity to emphasise the expertise, research, and collaboration between the Foundation’s Institutes and Centres in an international context. The Foundation’s vocation is to be an active participant, through this and other events, in the global stage of dialogue based on cultural diplomacy as a useful and necessary tool to respond to an era like ours, in which cultures and civilisations risk becoming enemies, unable to listen to, understand, and collaborate with each other.”
The Scientific Director, Daniele Franco, emphasises, “Fondazione Giorgio Cini is working to propose a reading of Casanova that goes beyond the usual imagery, the ‘myth’ that has become entrenched in traditional interpretations surrounding him. The primary aim is to highlight a complex character, a man who, from Venice, travels throughout Europe, in a historical period of rapid cultural and political change, where a vision of European society begins to emerge, one that is permeated by uncertainties, tensions, and an increasingly open and complex cultural debate. In Casanova’s writings, we can find many of the contradictions and forces for change that Europe is grappling with today.”
• Casanova e Venezia, at Palazzo Cini (27 September 2025 – 2 March 2026) with a focus on Venice, the birthplace and the first stage of Casanova’s life.
• Casanova e l’Europa: Opera in più atti, on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore (17 October 2025 – 2 March 2026), a look at Europe and the network of travels, relationships, and adventures that made Casanova an ante litteram European figure. The exhibition is produced in collaboration for the staging with the Fondazione Teatro La Fenice.
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Note (added 2 November 2025) — The press release for Casanova e l’Europa: Opera in più atti is available here.
The Decorative Arts Trust Launches Collecting250
From the press release:
Collecting250
The Decorative Arts Trust
New Online Resource Commemorates the Semiquincentennial through 250 Objects from across America.
The Decorative Arts Trust is pleased to share Collecting250.org, an interactive online resource that celebrates the importance of objects in narrating the history and evolution of the United States and the communities contained within. To commemorate America’s 250th, the United States Semiquincentennial, the Trust asked museums and historical societies to submit images and information about objects in their collections that tell powerful stories about national, state, or local identity. Collecting250 showcases 250 objects from over 140 institutions, and the release is timed in conjunction with the commencement of festivities honoring the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution’s first salvos in Massachusetts in 1775.
“We sought objects that are attached to a specific place, time, and people,” shares Trust Executive Director Matthew A. Thurlow. “Our aim was to present 250 objects from public collections across the country, thereby drawing attention to the broad swath of institutions that steward decorative arts of historical significance. This project aligns beautifully with the Trust’s mission to promote and foster an interest in decorative arts and material culture through our role as a community foundation elevating curatorial efforts to steward and study objects.”
Kleiderschrank (Clothes Press), 1779, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; walnut, yellow pine, oak, sulfur, iron; 6 feet 10 inches × 6 feet 6 inches × 27 inches (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1957-30-1).
All 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented, and each record contains an image, tombstone information, and a description of the object’s importance. The ability to search for entries based on location, category, and keyword provides the chance to make exciting and enlightening discoveries in unexpected places. The Trust developed connections with museums and historical societies beyond our traditional network, allowing them to highlight extraordinary artistic achievements in the west, including a mid-19th-century bed covering (New Mexico History Museum) featuring churro wool yarn and colcha embroidery introduced by early Spanish settlers.
There is an interplay between objects that are isolated from one another by time, location, maker, and function. For example, two disparate entries associated with the care and storage of textiles: a humble, late-19th-century pressing iron (Illinois State Museum) that Mississippian Bettye Kelly brought to Joliet, IL, in the 1960s; and a stunning sulfur-inlaid kleiderschrank (Philadelphia Museum of Art) made in Manheim, Pennsylvania, in 1779 for Georg Huber. The former speaks to the Great Migration of African Americans northward in the 20th century; the latter to the Germanic communities that were thriving on the eastern seaboard during the American Revolution.
The tradition of basket weaving has been practiced and perfected by various cultures over the past 10,000 years. Two entries separated by a century and the entire continent of North America illustrate the cultural convergences and impulses behind the production of basketry. In 1905, Aleksandra Kudrin Reinken, the daughter of a Unangax̂ (Aleut) mother and Russian father used her community’s traditional weaving techniques to create a basket (Hood Museum of Art) for a tourist clientele that incorporates ornamentation from prints, magazines, and perhaps even a Whitman’s Chocolate Sampler box. In 2007, Mary Jackson, an internationally recognized master of sweetgrass basketry, completed Never Again (Gibbes Museum of Art), inspired by the traditional Gullah rice fanner baskets that she learned to create from her mother and grandmother and that were once made and used on Lowcountry plantations.
Collecting250 is free and open to the public. Visit Collecting250.org to start exploring. The Decorative Arts Trust, founded in 1977, is a nonprofit organization that promotes and fosters the appreciation and study of the decorative arts through programs, partnerships, and grants. Learn more at decorativeartstrust.org.
Four Educator Guides, designed specifically for the Collecting250 project, are also available.
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Note (added 20 December 2025) — The post was updated to include the link for the educator guides.
Exhibition | The Declaration’s Journey
Looking to this fall, from the March 11 press release for the exhibition:
The Declaration’s Journey
Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia, 18 October 2025 — 3 January 2027
The Museum of the American Revolution today announces new details of its loan acquisitions for The Declaration’s Journey—a special exhibition commemorating the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence—related to female activists and suffragists in the 18th and 19th centuries who both touted the Declaration’s progressive ideals and pushed the United States to apply the its promise of equality to women.
On the night of July 4,1776, the first copies of the Declaration of Independence were published at John Dunlap’s printing office, near Second and Market Streets in Philadelphia. The news of independence spread quickly and widely both in the United States and abroad. Though women were not mentioned in the declaration issued by the Continental Congress, they contributed to its proliferation and success. Beginning with Dunlap, printers created broadsides of the Declaration, and they published the text in their newspapers. In July 1776, Mary Katharine Goddard of Baltimore was the only woman running a newspaper under her own name in the newly declared United States. She first published the Declaration in her newspaper, the Maryland Journal, and later also printed broadside copies of the Declaration, the first version to bear the names of the men who signed the revolutionary document. The Declaration’s Journey will feature a rare surviving broadside of the Declaration of Independence printed by Goddard in January 1777, on loan from Brian and Barbara Hendelson.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, activists fought for women’s rights and cited the words of the Declaration of Independence to advocate for education, temperance, abolition, and especially suffrage. In Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, 100 men and women signed a Declaration of Sentiments that looked very similar to the Declaration of Independence, with a key difference—it affirmed that “all men and women are created equal.” At the time, women in the United States had few legal, social, and political rights compared to men. Women were not allowed to vote. Only a few state laws allowed them to own property if they got married. They had limited rights in the court system and could not serve in government positions.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a skilled writer and orator for the suffrage movement, wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, borrowing its title from the American Anti-Slavery Society while retaining the structure and much of the language from the United States’ Declaration. Of the 68 women who signed the Declaration of Sentiments, only one, Rhoda Palmer, lived long enough to legally vote after nationwide women’s suffrage was achieved in 1918.
The Declaration’s Journey will feature Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s desk used in her house in Tenafly, New Jersey, where she lived from 1868 until 1887. Alongside coauthors Matilda Joslyn Gage, Ida Husted Harper, and Susan B. Anthony, Stanton likely used this desk during the writing process for their History of Woman Suffrage book, which they began working on following the suffragists’ appearance at the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. At that appearance, a small group of suffragists including Stanton famously interrupted the proceedings of the Fourth of July celebration at Independence Hall to present their Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States to Vice President Thomas Ferry. History of Woman Suffrage was later published in 1881.
Coline Jenkins, the great-great-granddaughter of Stanton, will lend the desk to the Museum for the full run of The Declaration’s Journey. Just as Stanton and her fellow activists took advantage of the attention surrounding the Centennial celebration to travel to Philadelphia and champion their cause, Jenkins said she is thrilled to have her ancestor represented through the Museum’s special exhibition celebrating the Semiquincentennial.
“The Declaration’s Journey will be the focus of the nation in 2026,” Jenkins said. “It means a lot to me and to my family to contribute this artifact at such a key time to such a key institution. It was never my family’s interest to have it stored away from the American people. Now, by its inclusion in this special exhibition, the desk can be a tool for Americans to understand where they came from and how to move forward.”
Displayed near Stanton’s desk in The Declaration’s Journey will be the earliest known printing of the Declaration of Sentiments, on loan from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The exhibition will also include a ballot box made from blueberry crates that was used in 1868 in a protest organized by Vineland, New Jersey, resident Portia Gage. One hundred and seventy-two local white and Black women cast illegal votes in the ballot box, which will be on loan from the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society.
“American women have helped to shape the legacy of the Declaration of Independence over the past 250 years,” said Matthew Skic, Senior Curator at the Museum of the American Revolution. “Stories of revolutionary women such as Mary Katherine Goddard, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Portia Gage remind us of the long-standing and continuing struggle to strengthen the American nation’s commitment to equality stated back in 1776.”
Structure of the exhibition:
First Travels, 1776–1783
The exhibition begins with the story of Jonas Phillips, a Jewish merchant in Philadelphia who sent a letter, written in Judeo-German to keep its contents secret, and a Dunlap broadside of the Declaration of Independence to Amsterdam in July 1776. That copy never arrived, as the ship carrying it was captured by a British warship. The letter and Dunlap broadside will be on view along with Phillips’ notes referencing the Declaration’s promise of freedom of conscience—an early example of the emerging meanings credited to the Declaration. Other objects and documents in this introductory section convey how a July 1776 reading of the Declaration led the Mi’kmac and Maliseet communities of New Brunswick and Maine to enter into the first treaty to recognize the U.S. as an independent nation; how the French celebrated the Declaration and helped to announce the U.S. as a nation of the world, available for diplomacy and alliance; and how a small minority, all abolitionists, pioneered the use of the Declaration as an egalitarian document.
A Worldwide Journey, 1780–1830
The story moves abroad to examine how international interpretations of the Declaration of Independence pressured Americans to clarify their own understanding of the founding document, especially its language about equality. The Marquis de Lafayette borrowed language of the Declaration in his “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” (1789) but clarified language about equality. The Haitian Declaration of 1804, as well as the declarations adopted in Mexico and Chile, pushed and pressured Americans into conversation and conflict over the tensions within their own Declaration’s promise.
A Divided Declaration, 1831–1898
The narrative returns to the United States, exploring the Declaration’s appropriation by abolitionists, suffragists, and Confederate secessionists. Items may include Frederick Douglass’s typescript oration from 1852, best known for the line “What to the American Slave, is your Fourth of July?” and a printing of the Seneca Falls Convention’s Declaration of Sentiments, which launched the modern women’s suffrage movement with the addition of the phrase “and women” to the Declaration’s statement that “all men” are created equal.
Examples of Native American Declarations of Sovereignty and Independence, including Mashpee and Cherokee, show ways that the Declaration’s language was re-fashioned in the 1800s by people described in the original document as “savage.”
The Declaration’s Journey, 1898–Present
In this final section, visitors will see more and more people claim the legacy of the Declaration. At the end of WWI, Czechoslovakia, Korea and six other nations adopted their versions of a declaration of independence and by the mid-1900s, the Declaration was increasingly understood as a fundamental statement of human rights and equality. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream,” speech is perhaps the best-known example of this understanding of the Declaration as a far-reaching promise. Visitors will leave the exhibition with an understanding of our Declaration as part of an ongoing revolution, a continuing effort to secure fair government and individual rights for people in the United States and around the world.
The Museum is poised to play a leadership role in the upcoming 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding in 2026. As we continue to transform the nation’s relationship with its Revolutionary past by increasing awareness of the many ordinary, diverse, and little-known people who created the American nation. Through this special exhibit, digital initiatives, and educational programs, we aim to facilitate widespread conversation about the meaning of the American Declaration of Independence and its ongoing legacy.
Turner 250
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J.M.W. Turner, The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, 1822–24, about 10 × 14 feet framed
(Greenwich: National Maritime Museum, BHC0565)
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Press release (21 January 2025) from Tate:
This morning, cultural institutions across Britain announced Turner 250, a year-long festival of special exhibitions and events. Taking place throughout 2025, the programme celebrates 250 years since the birth of renowned painter JMW Turner. Whether visiting museums and galleries or tuning in on TV and online, everyone will have the chance to enjoy Turner’s greatest works, learn about his incredible life and career, and discover the many ways he continues to inspire creativity today.
Born on 23 April 1775, Joseph Mallord William Turner is widely considered to be the greatest and most influential British artist of all time. From humble beginnings, he travelled the length and breadth of the country to capture its dramatic scenery, redefining landscape painting in the process. Today he remains a touchstone of British cultural life—the face on the £20 note—and the painter behind some of the most iconic images of the natural world ever created.
J.M.W. Turner, Self-Portrait, ca.1799, oil on canvas, 74 × 58 cm (London: Tate, Turner Bequest 1856, N00458).
This announcement includes over 30 projects taking place this year, organised by venues large and small as well as by national organisations such as Tate, the BBC, and Art UK. Turner exhibitions will be held in London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Norwich, Bath, and Sussex, highlighting key themes in his life and work and exploring his connections to other renowned historic figures like Jane Austen and John Constable. Turner’s legacy in modern and contemporary art will be celebrated with displays, commissions, and events in London and Margate, while the Turner Prize will be staged in Bradford as a highlight of the UK City of Culture programme. Books, films, and digital content will be released through the year, including a complete catalogue of Turner’s 37,500 sketches and watercolours on Tate’s website, a major new BBC documentary bringing the man and his art to life, and a screening of Mike Leigh’s award-winning film Mr. Turner at BFI Southbank. Talks and workshops will showcase new scholarship and ideas inspired by Turner, including an international conference at Tate Britain, a summit exploring art’s connection to the natural world at Turner Contemporary, and the Turner Society’s annual Kurt Pantzer memorial lecture. A keen international traveller, Turner will also have his 250th anniversary commemorated far beyond the UK, with celebratory shows being staged in Connecticut, Cincinnati, and Shanghai, as well as a special exhibition closer to home in Dublin.
Turner’s birthday on 23 April 2025 will be a particular highlight: the artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize will be announced that morning ahead of their show in Bradford in the autumn, an exhibition of Turner’s rarely-seen images of wildlife will open at Turner’s House in Twickenham, and a newly refreshed room will open in Tate Britain’s Clore Gallery, home to a permanent free display of 100 works by the artist.
Arts Minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “Turner was one of this country’s greatest artists. An innovator who created some of our best known canvasses, he reshaped British art. A talent of Turner’s stature requires a year of celebration, from the prize in his name to the back of the £20 note, his immense legacy continues to permeate through the arts and public life in Britain. The 250th anniversary of his birth will be an opportunity for the public to immerse themselves in our outstanding artistic heritage. I encourage everyone to take the time to find an event from the upcoming year to enjoy some of Britain’s finest artists from the past and present.”
Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate, said: “Turner is a standout figure in the story of British creativity. It is Tate’s privilege to care for the world’s biggest collection of his art and showcase it to the widest possible public. Over the course of this year, I’m delighted that we will be showing over 150 of his stunning works at Tate Britain as well as lending over 100 more to venues right across this country and beyond.”
Suzy Klein, Head of BBC Arts & Classical Music TV, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Tate to celebrate Britain’s most celebrated artist and be granted unprecedented access to Turner’s vast collection of rarely seen sketches. I can’t wait to share this treasure trove with audiences, not only illuminating the workings of Turner’s unique creative mind but also offering an unprecedented view into the extraordinary era of change during his lifetime.”
Exhibition | A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250
There’s no shortage of stimulating events marking this year’s 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, and readers will know this terrain much better than I. But for anyone tring to keep up, the following sites offer a useful starting place. –CH
• Ben Jureidini, “Is 2025 the Year of Jane Austen? From Society Balls to Blockbuster TV Shows, the 250th Anniversary of ‘Britain’s Greatest Author’ Is Set to Break Records,” The Tatler (6 January 2025). Miss Austen and The Other Bennet Sister on the BBC, a Dolly Alderton adaptation of Pride and Prejudice heading for Netflix, and a tourism boom for real-life regency balls, there’s something truly Austentatious about 2025. Link»
• “Worldwide Guide to Jane Austen 250th Events,” from the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, which focuses on the life and works of Jane Austen, as well as the Regency period in which she lived. Link»
• The Jane Austen Society, founded in 1940 by Dorothy Darnell with the purpose of raising funds to preserve the Cottage in the village of Chawton, Hampshire, where Jane Austen lived with her mother and sister Cassandra from 1809 to 1817. Link»
• The Jane Austen Society of North America, a non-profit organization staffed by volunteers and dedicated to the enjoyment and appreciation of Jane Austen and her writing. Link»
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Opening at The Morgan in June:
A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250
The Morgan Library and Museum, New York, 6 June — 14 September 2025
Organized by Dale Stinchcomb and Juliette Wells
Morning Dresses from Gallery of Fashion (London: N. Heideloff, 1798), figs. 198, 199 (New York: The Morgan Library & Museum; PML 5680).
A Lively Mind immerses viewers in the inspiring story of Jane Austen’s authorship and her gradual rise to international fame. Iconic artifacts from Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England join manuscripts, books, and artworks from the Morgan, as well as from a dozen institutional and private collections, to present compelling new perspectives on Austen’s literary achievement, her personal style, and her global legacy.
Beginning as a teenager, Austen cultivated her imaginative powers and her ambition to publish. Encouraged by her family, especially her father and her sister Cassandra, she persevered through years of uncertainty. Her creativity found expression in a range of artistic pursuits, from music-making to a delight in fashion. The story of how Americans first encountered and responded to Austen’s novels, unbeknownst to her, emerges from four surviving copies of an unauthorized edition of Emma published during her lifetime. Following Austen’s death, family members preserved their memories of her, while carefully guarding what was publicly revealed. Austen’s audience continued to grow as those who loved her novels helped new generations of readers to appreciate them. In addition to celebrating Austen, A Lively Mind commemorates the landmark gift of Austen manuscripts to the Morgan in 1975 by Alberta H. Burke and draws extensively on the extraordinary collection she bequeathed to Goucher College in Baltimore.
A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250 is organized by Dale Stinchcomb, Drue Heinz Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts, and Juliette Wells, Professor of Literary Studies at Goucher College. It is made possible by generous support from the Drue Heinz Exhibitions and Programs Fund, Cynthia H. Polsky, Martha J. Fleischman, the Caroline Morgan Macomber Fund, the Lucy Ricciardi Family Exhibition Fund, and Alyce Williams Toonk.
Byron 200 Years after His Death
George Gordon Byron (1788–1824) died 200 years ago on Friday (19 April). Writing this week for The Washington Post, Michael Dirda reviews two new books about the poet (noted below), while Benjamin Markovits, in a New York Times essay, grapples with how (and whether) people still read him. A Byron Festival is being held at Trinity College, Cambridge (yesterday and today) while the Keats-Shelley House presents the exhibition, Byron’s Italy: An Anglo-Italian Romance, along with a series of talks and other events throughout the year. Finally (for now), Liverpool UP has discounted some of its Byron books.
The Byron Festival at Trinity
Trinity College Cambridge 19–20 April 2024
Trinity College Cambridge will host a two-day festival to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron’s death on 19 April 1824, in Missolonghi, Greece. Byron was a student at Trinity College and is one of its most celebrated alumni. While enrolled as an undergraduate, Byron published his collection of poetry, Hours of Idleness, and began the satirical poem that would become English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, a scathing provocation of the literary establishment.
Described by the College’s Senior Tutor of the time as a “young man of tumultuous passions,” Byron became one of the most controversial, celebrated, and influential poets of his age. When Westminster Abbey declined to accept the magnificent statue of Byron, created after his death by the Danish sculptor Thorvaldsen, Trinity gave it a home in the Wren Library, where the poet still stands—an impressive presence for students, scholars, and visitors.
But what kinds of presence does Byron have now? This question is the focus of an exciting programme of talks, readings, music, and exhibited work, which will address, and mediate, the legacy and status of Byron now, within the contexts of today’s culture and scholarship. The Byron Festival Conference programme includes talks about Byron, by academics and writers including Bernard Beatty, Drummond Bone, Clare Bucknell, Will Bowers, Christine Kenyon Jones, Mathelinda Nabugodi, Seamus Perry, Diego Saglia, Dan Sperrin, Jane Stabler, Fiona Stafford, A.E. Stallings, Andrew Stauffer, Corin Throsby, Clara Tuite, Ross Wilson.
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Fiona Stafford, ed., Byron’s Travels: Poems, Letters, and Journals (New York: Everyman’s Library, 2024), 728 pages, ISBN: 978-1101908426, $35.
George Gordon, Lord Byron, was one of the leading figures of British Romanticism. The Byronic hero he gave his name to—the charming, dashing, rebellious outsider—remains a powerful literary archetype. Byron was known for his unconventional character and his extravagant and flamboyant lifestyle: he had numerous scandalous love affairs, including with his half-sister Augusta Leigh. Lady Caroline Lamb, one of his lovers, famously described him as “mad, bad and dangerous to know.”
His letters and journals were originally published in two volumes; this new one-volume selection includes poems and provides a vivid overview of his dramatic life arranged to reflect his travels through Scotland, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Albania, Switzerland, and of course Greece, where he died. It contains a new introduction by scholar Fiona Stafford highlighting Byron’s enduring significance and the ways in which he was ahead of his time.
Fiona Stafford is a professor of English literature at Oxford University. The author of many books, including a biography of Jane Austen, she also wrote and presented the highly acclaimed The Meaning of Trees for BBC Radio 3’s The Essay. Her book The Long, Long Life of Trees, published in 2017, was a Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year.
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Andrew Stauffer, Byron: A Life in Ten Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024), 300 pages, ISBN: 978-1009200165, $30.
Lord Byron was the most celebrated of all the Romantic poets. Troubled, handsome, sexually fluid, disabled, and transgressive, he wrote his way to international fame—and scandal—before finding a kind of redemption in the Greek Revolution. He also left behind the vast trove of thrilling letters (to friends, relatives, lovers, and more) that form the core of this remarkable biography. Published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Byron’s death, and adopting a fresh approach, it explores his life and work through some of his best, most resonant correspondence. Each chapter opens with Byron’s own voice—as if we have opened a letter from the poet himself—followed by a vivid account of the emotions and experiences that missive touches. This gripping life traces the meteoric trajectory of a poet whose brilliance shook the world and whose legacy continues to shape art and culture to this day.
Andrew M. Stauffer is a professor in the English Department at the University of Virginia, where he specializes in nineteenth-century literature, especially poetry.
Exhibition | 1923 —The Domaine de Sceaux: Origins of a Renaissance
From Silvana Editoriale:
1923 — The Domaine de Sceaux: Origins of a Renaissance
Musée du Domaine départemental de Sceaux, 10 March — 9 July 2023
The Domaine de Sceaux was acquired in 1923 by the Hauts-de-Seine department, leading to the estate’s restoration and its opening to the public. This exhibition (installed in the former stables) brings together archival documents, posters, photographs, drawings, and paintings to tell the story of the place during this last eventful century. The exhibition traces the history of the estate from its first major transformation to the 1950s.
L’histoire du Domaine de Sceaux entre 1850 et 1950 reste peu connue du grand public. Après la Révolution, la propriété traversa plusieurs phases de déclin et de renouveau. Les aménagements d’aujourd’hui s’inspirent donc à la fois du parc ancien et des ouvrages classés du XVIIe s., et ils intègrent aussi le décor du XIXe s., introduit par les ducs de Trévise. Si vous êtes familier des lieux ou en quête d’histoire sur le Grand Paris, vous ressentirez d’autant plus cette métamorphose : celle d’un somptueux château à la campagne devenu un site muséal préservé et ouvert à tous.
Site historique et patrimonial majeur de la région parisienne, le Domaine départemental de Sceaux fut créé en 1670 par Jean-Baptiste Colbert, qui y appela les plus grands artistes de son temps, d’André Le Nôtre à Charles Le Brun, de Jules Hardouin-Mansart à Antoine Coysevox. Passé entre les mains du marquis de Seignelay, fils du ministre de Louis XIV, puis entre celles du duc et de la duchesse du Maine, du duc de Penthièvre et enfin du duc et de la duchesse de Trévise, cet ensemble remarquable, bientôt menacé par l’extension galopante de la banlieue, était appelé à une disparition quasi certaine lorsqu’en 1923, à la suggestion du maire de Sceaux, il fut acquis in extremis par le département de la Seine à la princesse de Cystria, née Trévise, dernière propriétaire. 2023 marque ainsi le centenaire du passage de ce domaine exceptionnel du statut de propriété privée à celui de bien public, devenu en 1970 l’un des fleurons du département des Hauts-de-Seine qui en assure depuis l’entretien et la valorisation. L’exposition revient sur le contexte, sur les raisons et sur les conditions de cette acquisition qui permit l’heureuse renaissance du domaine de Sceaux.
David Baurain and Céline Barbin, eds., 1923 — Le Domaine de Sceaux: Aux origines d’une renaissance (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2023), 208 pages, ISBN: 978-8836654239, €30.
Exhibition | Reframing Reynolds
Left: Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Lady Anne Bonfoy, née Eliot (1729–1810), oil on canvas, 125 × 100 cm (Acquired from the Trustees of Port Eliot Estate through the acceptance in lieu scheme, 2007). Right: Joshua Reynolds, Self Portrait, 1746, oil on canvas, 104 × 90 cm (Plymouth: The Box, 2014.71, purchased with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund, V&A Purchase Grant Fund, and the Art Fund, with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation).
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Opening this month at The Box:
Reframing Reynolds: A Celebration
The Box, Plymouth, 24 June 2023 — 29 October 2023
This major new exhibition celebrates the 300th anniversary of the birth of famous portrait painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was born in nearby Plympton St Maurice.
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1794) was known for capturing his clients’ personalities, being one of the founding members and first president of the prestigious Royal Academy in London, as well as one of the most influential painters of the 1700s. Reframing Reynolds: A Celebration explores the career of this famous 18th-century portrait artist within a global context, highlighting themes such as image, identity, his studio practice, his early career in Plymouth Dock (now Devonport), and his use of pigment, colour, and light.
Important works from The Box’s permanent collection are shown alongside loans from national and private collections including Tate, The Woburn Abbey Collection, National Trust, National Maritime Museum, and The Barber Institute of Fine Arts. The loans are supported by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund. Created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, the programme is the first ever UK-wide funding scheme to enable smaller and local authority museums to borrow works of art and artefacts from national collections.
Reynolds’ enduring legacy and his ongoing relevance for artists today are highlighted through an exciting collaboration with Royal Academician Rana Begum, who has created new works inspired by three of his portraits. Begum’s internationally touring Dappled Light exhibition will also be on display at The Box this summer.
Keen to discover more about Sir Joshua Reynolds?
• Learn about the National Trust’s Reynolds 300 programme.
• Find out more about what’s happening at Saltram House.
• Book for one of the Royal Academy’s Artists on Art talks, which have been programmed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of Reynolds’ birth.
• Book a ticket for a special Sir Joshua Reynolds at 300 talk and panel discussion at Plympton St Maurice Guildhall on 14 July.
New Book | A Treatise on Civil Architecture
From Rizzoli:
William Chambers, with a preface by Frank Salmon, A Treatise on Civil Architecture (Stockholm: Bokförlaget Stolpe, 2023), ISBN: 978-9189696358, $80.
A gorgeous, oversize, clothbound facsimile of the classic 18th-century guide to the vocabulary of Western architecture
Sir William Chambers (1723–1796) was a Swedish British architect who designed imaginative castle buildings and luxurious interiors as well as simple and rational utilitarian architecture: some of his most famous works include the Roehampton Villa, Great Pagoda, and Somerset House (all located in London). Originally published in 1756, A Treatise on Civil Architecture is an architecture handbook in which Chambers explains the basics of the art of building, aiming “to collect into one volume what is now dispersed in a great many, and to select, from mountains of promiscuous Materials, a Series of Sound Precepts and good Designs.” The guidebook is supplemented by concise texts and beautiful illustrations of classical building types and their functions. Received with considerable acclaim upon its release, A Treatise on Civil Architecture quickly became the most popular practical work on architecture in the English language and has since been republished several times. This handsome clothbound edition is published in conjunction with the 300th anniversary of Chambers’ birth.
William Chambers (1723–1796) was an architect mainly active in and around London. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768 and he published a number of both practical and theoretical books on architecture, gardening, and interior design.
Frank Salmon is Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in History of Art, University of Cambridge and a Fellow at St John’s College, Cambridge. Since 2021 Dr. Salmon has served as the director at the Cambridge based The Ax:son Johnson Centre for the Study of Classical Architecture.
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