History of Art Trip to London
4 February 2025 - Academic
On a cold and crisp January day, the Sixth Form Art Historians embarked on a journey to London in the pursuit of masterpieces and masterminds. The first stop was the Royal Academy, to view the exhibition ‘Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael,’ offering a rare opportunity to witness the genius of these titans of the Italian Renaissance up close. The exhibition featured Michelangelo’s celebrated Taddei Tondo, his only marble sculpture in the UK, alongside related preparatory drawings. Lively discussions and deep reflections were particularly sparked by the two profoundly different approaches on display in Leonardo’s The Fight for the Standard and Michelangelo’s The Battle of Cascina For Michelangelo, the body – perfected and in action – was the primary vehicle of expression; for Leonardo, it was the face that was key to conveying emotion.
Following the exhibit, the LVI pupils headed to Dartmouth House for the ARTiculation public speaking competition. The elegant setting provided the perfect backdrop for Wycombe Abbey’s finalist, Sasha, to express her knowledge on the photography of Cindy Sherman. Her eloquent presentation which was described by the judge as demonstrating ‘great personal insight throughout and was delivered so confidently and clearly with peerless description of the artwork, explaining clearly the ideas, interests and ambiguities of Sherman’s work.
Meanwhile, UVI, made their way to the National Gallery for a whistle-stop revision tour with each pupil presenting on one of the works that we have studied. These included Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and Turner’s Rain, Steam and Speed. The pupils’ talks were so professional and compelling that they often attracted members of the public to listen in too! We then made our way to the National Portrait Gallery where some pupils took the opportunity to see historic portraits of the Tudors, while others were more excited to see Quinn’s 3D self-portrait of his head made from his own blood. The day was rounded off with visit to the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize exhibition to contemplate the A level theme of identity through the lens of photography.
Learn more about our History of Art Curriculum
It was a pleasure to see pupils so enraptured with art and deploying their own considerable knowledge and expertise outside of the classroom.
Emma Bowen
Head of History of Art
Rebecca French
History of Art Resident Tutor
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