IMAGINE A CASTLE: PAINTINGS FROM THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON
National Museum Cardiff
Until Sun 10 May
This is an opportunity to view an impressive collection of paintings to celebrate the acquisition of Bernardo Bellotto’s The Fortress Of Königstein From The North (1756-8) – one of the most original and significant examples of 18th-century landscape painting. It appears alongside five other major paintings depicting castles and fortresses by European Old Masters. The National Gallery is committed to sharing the collection so it can be enjoyed throughout the UK. Those who may find it difficult to travel to London, now can see these great masterpieces in a variety of other venues, and its first stop is the National Museum Cardiff. The tour is supported by Art Fund and allows visitors to explore how artists have used their creativity to present castles over the last 500 years, in both realistic and imagined ways. It is hoped that the exhibition will reach many people who haven’t before had an opportunity to see the National Gallery’s collection.
The paintings of castles feature heavily in the collection and works include Jan van Beerstraaten’s snow-topped Castle Of Muiden In Winter (1658) which captures the mood and feel of winter and the building’s physical state of preservation. Other more fantastical works include Claude’s quietly menacing Enchanted Castle (1664), depicting a tale from Ancient Rome, and French Symbolist Gustave Moreau’s Saint George And The Dragon (1889-90), in which the castle provides a backdrop for a story from Christian legend. With over 600 castles of our own, Wales is known as the ‘land of castles’. Aptly then, National Museum Cardiff’s own collection of artworks depicting Welsh castles will complement the touring pictures, offering an insight into “the sense of identity and history that many communities in Wales associate with their local castles”, according to David Anderson, the museum’s Director General.
As part of the exhibition, children from local schools will be invited to explore what castles mean to them and to create their own imaginative responses to Bellotto’s painting in the form of GIFs (still or moving digital images, for those who aren’t computer-literate) and shown on a screen in the exhibition space. words EMILY EDWARDS
Admission: free. Info: 0300 1112333 / www.museum.wales/cardiff