About the department
The Department holds European paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, applied arts, and musical instruments from the Middle Ages to the present day. Numerous individual specialist collections have been given or bequeathed over the years, making these holdings a 'collection of collections'.
Paintings
(1397-1475). WA1850.31; A79.
Well-known masterpieces such as Paolo Uccello's Hunt in the Forest and Claude Lorrain's Ascanius shooting the Stag of Sylvia are on view in the galleries. There are important displays of Renaissance Italian art, Flemish and Dutch 17th-century paintings (including the Daisy Linda Ward Collection of still-life paintings), the Pre-Raphaelites (mainly from the Combe Bequest of 1894) and the work of Camille Pissarro and his family (thanks to several gifts from the Pissarro family). The Sands Gallery of 20th-century European Paintings and Sculpture opened in 2001.
The entire collection of Western Art paintings is online here.
Sculpture and Applied Arts
The wide-ranging European sculpture collection includes the Ideal Head by Antonio Canova. Our world-class collections of Renaissance bronzes, maiolica, and rings were formed by C D E Fortnum (1820-1899). Other special displays include English silver from the Farrer, Carter and Conway collections, the Marshall Collection of Worcester porcelain, the Warren Collection of English delftware, and the Hill Collection of stringed instruments. Also on view are portrait miniatures, 17th-century textiles, European porcelain and glass.
Drawings and Prints
WA1855.294.
The foundations of the graphic art collections are the bequest of Francis Douce in 1834 and the superlative drawings by Michelangelo and Raphael from the collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence, acquired by public subscription in 1842. Important groups of prints and drawings have been added over the years, including works by Rembrandt, Guercino, Watteau and Cézanne - as well as English drawings and watercolours of fine quality by J M W Turner, Samuel Palmer, John Ruskin, Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and Max Beerbohm. Visitors can view prints and drawings in the Print Room.
The Western Art collection of Italian, French and French Ornament drawings is now online.
The Ashmolean Plan - how it affects the Department of Western Art
The Western Art Galleries will remain open to the public although there will be some disruption to our displays during the building work. The five tapestries formerly in Gallery 40 (Mallett) will undergo essential conservation work before being displayed in the new building. The Mallett Gallery will instead house a splendid array of 17th- and 18th-century paintings, sculpture and furniture.
As part of the Ashmolean Plan, two Western Art galleries will be demolished and rebuilt, and two others will be temporarily closed. The Hill Collection of musical instruments from Gallery 42, including the violin known as 'Le Messie' by Antonio Stradivari, will be temporarily displayed in Galleries 45 (Hindley Smith) and 39 (Fox-Strangways). Several of our Dutch paintings and our Baroque art collections from Galleries 41 and 43 will be shown in the Mallett Gallery and elsewhere. Special arrangements will have to be made for viewing the Worcester Porcelain in Gallery 10.