The听grandest gallery at the 探花直播 of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam听Museum听will re-open this evening, restored to its majestic听splendour听after a refurbishment project lasting two years. Visitors to tonight鈥檚 after-hours Gallery Party will be the first to enjoy the museum鈥檚 extraordinary collection as never before.听听

A highlight of the new hang will be a magnificent group of floor to ceiling portraits by Anthony Van Dyck and Daniel Mytens - the dominant painters at the English court in the first decades of the 17th century.

Luke Syson, Director, Fitzwilliam Museum

Behind the closed doors of the main Gallery, the Grade I listed ceiling with its ornate plasterwork and casts of the Parthenon Frieze at lower lever have been cleaned, restored and repainted revealing the crisp decorative detail. In the gallery immense grandeur and an intimacy of scale come together remarkably. At eye-level, the transformation is no less impressive. Gallery walls, clad in red fabric since the 1970s, have been stripped and re-covered with a sumptuous new wall covering that echoes the colour adopted by Basevi鈥檚 successor, Edward M Barry (1830-1880), for the magnificent Founder鈥檚 Entrance. Seeing paintings by Anthony Van Dyck, Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Lawrence in this room makes great masterpieces truly unforgettable.

探花直播gallery has been rehung under the Directorship of Luke Syson, formerly of 探花直播National Gallery and 探花直播Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 鈥淎 highlight of the new hang will be a magnificent group of floor to ceiling portraits by Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641), and Daniel Mytens (c. 1590- 1647/48) - the dominant painters at the English court in the first decades of the 17th century,鈥 says Syson, adding 鈥渢hey have been generously lent by the Trustees of the Rt. Hon. Olive, Countess Fitzwilliam鈥檚 Chattels Settlement, by permission of Lady Juliet Tadgell. Seeing them at the Fitz is truly thrilling.鈥

This evening鈥檚 will launch the Fitz鈥檚 new annual theme of Sensual/Virtual, introduced by Luke Syson. Many of the exhibits on show in the gallery will have new 鈥榖ehind the label鈥 stories where visitors will be able to scan a QR code or tap their smart phone on an NFC chip to access new and complementary information.

探花直播Fitzwilliam Museum is a glittering jewel in the crown of the 探花直播 of Cambridge. Designed by the architect George Basevi (1794-1845), it is widely considered to be one of the finest museum interiors in Britain. One distinguished former director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington called the Fitz 鈥渢he greatest small Museum in the world.鈥

Sensual/Virtual is further explored through , opening on Tuesday 8th October. 探花直播show asks 鈥榗an we listen to a painting?鈥 This collaborative exhibition features objects from three of the Museum鈥檚 five departments. Notable exhibits are the five autograph musical manuscripts by Brahms, Stravinsky, Handel and Handel enthusiast, Lord Fitzwilliam, the founder of the Fitzwilliam. 探花直播show also features works by Rossetti, Renoir and Picasso, which demonstrate the ways in which artists and composers have engaged in a dialogue between sight and sound.

runs from 19:30-21:00 on Monday, 7 October. Admission is free and entry is via the main entrance to the museum.

Adapted from a press release by 探花直播Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.


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