Botticelli and Treasures from the Hamilton Collection
18 February – 15 May 2016
In 1882 the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen
zu Berlin (Museum of Prints and Drawings – National
Museums in Berlin) acquired, from the collection of the
Duke of Hamilton, Sandro Botticelli’s spectacular series
of drawings illustrating scenes from Dante’s epic poem,
the Divine Comedy. It also purchased nearly all the items
in the duke's priceless collection of illuminated
manuscripts. The Berlin museum pulled off this
sensational coup despite efforts by Queen Victoria and
her daughter, wife of the German crown prince, to
prevent the loss of these treasures abroad.
Botticelli, Paradiso 6, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin
(detail)
Organised in collaboration with the Kupferstichkabinett,
this exhibition brings back to the United Kingdom some of
the greatest of the former Hamilton treasures, including
no less than thirty of Botticelli’s exquisite Dante drawings.
The drawings will be accompanied by an extraordinary
selection of illuminated manuscripts, many from the time
of Botticelli. These include the monumental 'Hamilton
Bible'. Acknowledged to be one of the most important
illuminated manuscripts in the world, this splendid princely
volume is depicted in Raphael’s portrait of Pope Leo X
(now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence). The Hamilton Bible
has never returned to the United Kingdom since the 1882
sale.
Dated to around 1480-95 and drawn on vellum, Botticelli’s Dante drawings are very rarely exhibited or
lent. This is an exceptional opportunity for audiences in the United Kingdom to see a representative
collection of the great Renaissance master’s interpretation of one of the canonical texts of world
literature. Ten drawings will be included from each of the three parts of the Divine Comedy, charting
Dante’s imaginary journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise.
In the first two realms Dante is guided by the Roman poet Virgil; the selected drawings vividly describe
their encounters with various sinners tormented in the different circles of hell. The Desert of Burning
Sands is, for example, reserved for the punishment of usurers. In the eighth circle Dante encounters
Pope Nicholas III amongst the corrupt clergy who are planted upside down in narrow holes in the
ground, the soles of their feet in flames. This section concludes with the celebrated double-size drawing
of Lucifer, depicted full length with wings and three heads. Virgil and Dante clamber along his shaggy
flanks to reach Purgatory. Purgatory is the transitional realm of spiritual purification. The Penance of
Proud Knights and Artists shows figures stooped under the weight of giant boulders, atoning for their
sinful vanity. Dante here converses with the manuscript illuminator Oderisi da Gubbio. In the realm of
Paradise it is the radiant Beatrice, whom Dante loved in his youth, who guides the poet through the
celestial spheres. These concluding visionary passages of Dante’s text are brought to life in some of
Botticelli’s most spell-bindingly beautiful drawings.
Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, Head of The Courtauld Gallery, said: “We are delighted to be working
with the Kupferstichkabinett and deeply honoured to have been entrusted with this exceptional group of
works.” The Courtauld Gallery’s own collection includes Botticelli’s little-known large altarpiece of The
Holy Trinity with John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene, dated to the same years as the final drawings of
the Dante series.
Botticelli and Treasures from the Hamilton Collection has been developed in partnership with the
Kupferstichkabinett and will be shown in Berlin from 16 October 2015 to 24 January 2016.
Also at The Courtauld Gallery: Bruegel in Black and White: Three Grisailles Reunited, 4 February to 8
May 2016.
End
Contacts:
Kallaway PR
Tori Dance / Emma Collins
[email protected] / [email protected]
+44 20 7221 7883
The Courtauld Gallery
Emily Butcher
[email protected]
+44 (0)20 7848 1149
Notes to Editors and Ticket Information
Opening Times:
Daily 10am – 6pm (last admission 5.30pm)
Closed 25 and 26 December, last admission at 3.30pm on 24 December
Tickets available from www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery
Admission £8.50* (concessions available)
*Price includes admission to the permanent collection and a £1 voluntary donation to The Courtauld
Gallery
About The Courtauld Gallery (www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery)
The Courtauld Gallery is one of London’s must-see art museums. Its collection stretches from the early
Renaissance to the 20th century and beyond. It is displayed in the elegant setting of Somerset House,
one of the city’s most dynamic cultural venues. The Courtauld Gallery is renowned for its unrivalled
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including masterpieces by Monet, Van Gogh and
Gauguin and the largest collection of Cézannes in the UK. It houses a major collection of Old Master
paintings and is one of the few museums in the country to display such a rich selection of early
twentieth-century art. The Gallery also holds an outstanding collection of drawings and prints and fine
works of sculpture and decorative arts.
The Courtauld Gallery regularly presents major exhibitions and special displays which are consistently
acclaimed for their outstanding quality and originality.
The Gallery is at the heart of The Courtauld Institute of Art, one of the world’s leading centres for the
study of art history and conservation. It plays an important role in the capital's cultural life and is part of
London's Museum Mile.
“One of the world's great collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art”
- The Guardian