From next May, the best of the “English Prize” will be assembled and shown at the Ashmolean – bringing visitors a unique time capsule of the tastes, characters and groaning shopping bags of Britain’s 18th-century super-rich gentlemen. For scholars of the Grand Tour, it shows not only what art the grand tourists were buying, but also what books they were reading to while away the journeys and what souvenirs they were sending back for their friends and families. It provides the most complete picture yet of an influential moment in the history of British taste and learning.

About these ads

Uncategorized

November 28, 2011

Leave a comment