Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Courtauld Institute of Art
Devotion by Design: Italian Altarpieces before 1500 (National Gallery company)
The exhibition, curated by Scott Nethersole, Devotion by Design: Italian Altarpieces before 1500 (London, National Gallery 6 July to 2 October 2011) is submitted as a Research Output. The portfolio gives evidence of the research process and includes, as one component, the catalogue. Devotion by Design investigated ways in which altarpieces can be re-displayed to emphasise their original contexts despite being framed, literally and figuratively, by modern institutions. Additionally the exhibition presented research findings on the materiality and construction of these artefacts.
The portfolio details research undertaken by Nethersole in Italy and elsewhere assessing works in close-to-original condition (studying the relationship of panel to frame) including the scrutiny of original locations with attention to church context, lighting, viewer position and angles of view. The portfolio details research undertaken in London on un- and under-studied objects in the National Gallery store by Nethersole and by a panel of scientists, conservators and curators convened by Nethersole.
The experiential dimension of the exhibition was the principal focus of the research project. Evidence from planning meetings and Nethersole’s project-notes on the hang are included in the portfolio to show the development of a ‘back-view’ display method (solutions to foreground carpentry instead of a more familiar stylistic sequence). These notes show the calculations involved in the effort to reference and recreate aspects of original locations, particularly in terms of height, lighting and juxtaposition, counter to familiar (‘Vasarian’) National Gallery presentation.
Nethersole authored the catalogue addressing the main themes of the exhibition in essays aimed at a wide audience; the portfolio gives evidence of the museum’s stipulations about the format, tone and language of the catalogue.
All documents in the portfolio can be cross-referenced to the timeline (item 1).
