Mummy Portraits Reunited
A Fayum portrait from Eton’s Antiquities collection has been installed in an exhibition at the British Museum alongside an associated portrait from their collections. The exhibition, Legion: Life in the Roman Army, runs from 1 February to 23 June 2024.
Jane Evans on Tour
The College’s portrait of Jane Evans by John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), is travelling from Boston, where it featured in the exhibition Fashioned by Sargent, to London, where Sargent and Fashion will be open from 22 February to 7 July 2024. The portrait has been reframed in an antique gilt frame, similar to the original frame (now lost) that was used by the artist.
Natural History Talk
The curator of the Natural History Museum, George Fussey, recently gave a talk to 30 members of the Bracknell Forest Natural History Society. Making use of specimens from the museum, he opened up the fascinating world of spiders, and encouraged members to pay a visit to the museum themselves.
School Hall Art Returns
In late November the series of seven paintings, Seven Halts on the Somme, by Hughie O’Donoghue and ten stained-glass panels (which formerly formed a single window within a boys’ library in College) were reinstalled into School Hall. Then, during the first week of January, art handlers installed a further ten oil portraits, two marble busts and two carved oak statues. The bust of Queen Victoria had to be lifted over the new glass acoustic panels using a crane.
Cartoons Restored
Four large watercolour cartoons for the Lower Chapel tapestries (FDA-D.758-61-2010) have been treated by a paper conservator and reframed. The drawings are by Amy Akers-Douglas (d.1962) and were made in preparation for the four tapestries in Lower Chapel, which tell the life of St George. They are a memorial to the 1,157 Etonians killed in the First World War.
Studies in Colour
Head of History of Art, Ms Cordingley, and Physics Master, Dr Mackie, led a session in the Print Room as part of their optional course for Year 12 students on Colour and Culture. Several important watercolours were used as teaching aids, including David Roberts’s remarkable view of Rome, painted in 1854.
