Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam Museum, Vestibule

This month's blogs are all inspired by a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. David and I have now been twice to look at different sections. Happily for us, Cambridge is an easy day trip from home, the entrance to the museum is free and there’s an excellent Brown’s restaurant nearby, so a third visit is definitely on the cards!

The museum was founded with the art collection and library bequeathed to the university in 1816 by Viscount Richard FitzWilliam, who also left £100,000 "to cause to be erected a good substantial museum repository". The stunning neoclassical building is worth a visit in its own right.

The museum is arranged on the delightfully simple principle – objects downstairs, paintings upstairs. On our recent trip we focused on the paintings, which include artworks by Monet, Picasso, Rubens, Vincent van Gogh, Renoir, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Van Dyck, and Canaletto, alongside modern works.

The Last of England, Ford Madox Brown

I was delighted to find a version of one of my favourite Pre-Raphaelite paintings, Ford Madox Brown's, The Last of England. Wikipedia tells me this was voted 8th-greatest painting in Britain in a Radio 4 poll.

A little research revealed that the work was inspired by the departure for Australia of Brown’s friend, the sculptor Thomas Woolner, whose failure to secure artistic commissions at home forced him to seek a fortune abroad. At the time, Brown too was contemplating leaving England, for India. In a diary entry, he described himself as 'intensely miserable, very hard up and a little mad'. The couple in the painting are Brown and his wife, Emma.

I hope Emma was pleased with the final painting. Brown had her sit outdoors in winter to capture the light and conditions he wanted, and unsurprisingly, it put a strain on their relationship. I love how her left hand holds the tiny fingers of a baby, otherwise invisible beneath her shawl.

A Lighthouse on Fire at Night, Joseph Wright of Derby

Another painting I was drawn to was ‘A Lighthouse on Fire at Night.’ I was delighted to find that it’s by Joseph Wright of Derby, whose work ‘An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump’ is a particular favourite of mine.

The caption for the painting read: ‘During a trip to Italy in the 1770s Joseph Wright witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The spectacular lighting effects in the landscapes he painted afterwards bore the imprint of this experience. This nocturnal scene is a mixture of imaginary drama and authentic detail: moonlight flickers on the surface of the water and a fiery beacon penetrates the darkness.’

I haven’t space to mention many other paintings I enjoyed (as well as some that I didn’t). So I heartily recommend that you pay a visit if possible. If not, much of the collection can be explored on the museum website. www.fitzwilliam.cam.ac.uk

If you’ve been there yourself, do share your highlights in the comments below.