Dulwich Picture Gallery

Today we visited Dulwich, a neighborhood in south London with a wonderful village-like high street with beautiful old homes and a lot of urban green space.  It also has a fantastic museum, the Dulwich Picture Gallery which opened to the public in 1817 and displays a rich collection of old masterpieces. The building itself was designed and built by the venerable architect John Soane.  I wanted to photograph the front of the building, but, alas, it started to rain.

Also included below are photographs from Unearthed, a temporary exhibit of photography through the depiction of nature from 1840 to the present.

Mrs. Joan Alleyn by the British School
Black clothing was very expensive and a sign of status and wealth.
She was the wife of Edward Alleyn who founded Dulwich College in 1619. 
a school which still operates today, close to the museum.

Elizabeth & Mary Linley circa 1772
painted by Thomas Gainsborough
Celebrated for their beauty and voices, the Linley sisters of Bath
were both singers, both married playwrights
who turned out to be unfaithful husbands, and
both died of Tuberculosis at an early age.
I like this painting a lot. I like almost anything painted by Gainsborough.

The Fall of the Rebel Angels
by Sebastiano Richi circa 1718
The archangel Michael drives the rebel angels from heaven.
As they fall, they turn into monsters.
Eddie pointed this painting out to me and I find it almost hypnotizing.

The Triumph of David circa 1631
by Nicolas Poussin
David carries the giant head of Goliath into Jerusalem
There is a lot going on here and David almost gets lost in the crowd.
There is something oddly whimsical about this scene.

Signatures from the guest book below
Famous visitors to the Dulwich Gallery

A Young Man, circa 1668, by Rembrandt
Painted at the end of his career, this may depict the artist's son Titus.
Rembrandt died one year after Titus and some say it was of a broken heart
as all four of his children died before him.

  

Girl in a Window 
by Rembrandt
It is said when Rembrandt put this painting 
in his window, it was mistaken for a real girl at the window

Lucy Ebberton circa 1745
by George Knapton
Another painting that Eddie pointed out.
At first glance, it's a simple painting of a pretty young lady
but looking at it further I sense the young lady and 
the painting itself hold some secrets.

The painting on the right is a Gainsborough

Princess Victoria Aged 4 
by Stephen Denning
Yes, this is Queen Victoria as a child.
She wears black to mourn her father who died three years prior.
Fascinating, even weird, and I love it.

Christ Carrying the Cross circa 1650
by the Sevillian School
I like how his eyes look into the viewer's eyes
to emphasize and share his sorrow.

I like this entryway to a house in Dulwich