April 14, 2011
I’m excited about the installation of permanent outdoor signs on VMFA’s campus that interpret the history of the Confederate Soldiers’ Home—a residential compound for poor and infirm southern veterans that once stood on the site between 1885 and 1941. Established by R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, Confederate Veterans, the camp included, among many buildings:…
April 5, 2011
In 1967 the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts acquired a monumental statue of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The statue had once belonged to the famous 17th-century Italian collector Vincenzo Giustiniani (1564–1637), who displayed it with his extensive collection of ancient art. But in the late 1960s, scholars questioned whether any or all of the…
April 1, 2011
Images of cats are plentifully in evidence in VMFA’s exhibition: A Celebration of Print: 500 years of Graphic Art from the Frank Raysor Collection. The exhibition runs until May 22nd in the Mellon Focus Galleries. Admission to the exhibition is free. Here are three of my favorite cats from the show: Cornelis de Visscher…
March 8, 2011
Three new pedestals have magically appeared in the Classical Art Gallery, each holding magnificent examples of Greek art. Together with a case featuring Geometric and Archaic art, these pedestals give the gallery a chronological spine in the form of a survey of Greek pottery from the 8th through the 4th centuries BCE. The first…
March 7, 2011
There is a very interesting story behind Septimius Severus—both the man himself and the statue of him at VMFA. What some people don’t know is that this Roman emperor was born in Lepcis Magna, North Africa, and so was sometimes referred to as the “African Emperor.” When Severus was 18, he moved to Rome to…
January 28, 2011
As an intern in the ancient art department in 2008, I grew attached to a few artifacts in the Greek collection that have enchanted me with their beauty. Now that I’ve returned to volunteer in the department and the ancient art galleries are open, I have an opportunity to once again work closely with the…
May 2, 2010
Thanks to the generosity of The Jewish Museum in New York, VMFA is able to present a pair of Dutch 17th-century silver Torah Finials in the European Galleries as a long-term loan. These artifacts are the first examples of Judaica ever to be displayed in the permanent galleries of VMFA. Made at a time –…
