Enjoy both Ragamala: Paintings from India and Van Dyck in Siciliy for just £10

15 February 2012  – 27 May 2012

Van Dyck in Sicily

In the spring of 1624 the painter Anthony Van Dyck (1599 -1641) moved from Genoa to Palermo in Sicily. Soon after Van Dyck’s arrival, plague struck Palermo and most of the population died. In the same year, the bones of Saint Rosalia were discovered in a cave on the Monte Pellegrino where she was said to have died as a hermit in the Middle Ages. This will be the first exhibition to focus on Van Dyck’s work during this period. The exhibition takes Dulwich’s own Portrait of Emanuele Filiberto as a starting point and expands into an examination of Van Dyck’s activity in that year. It will also be the first time in the UK that Van Dyck’s portrait of the Viceroy of Sicily from Dulwich’s own collection will be seen next to the spectacular suit of armour worn by the viceroy in the portrait – still surviving in the Royal Armouries of Madrid.

Ragamala: Paintings from India

A ragamala or ‘garland of ragas’ is a set of miniature paintings depicting various musical modes, ragas, of Indian music. Each painting is accompanied by a brief caption or poem that describes the mood of the raga, most frequently devotion and love – in its various aspects.

Ragamala painting flourished throughout the royal courts of India in the late 1400s and dwindled in the 1800s, with the decline of aristocratic patronage. This exhibition will unveil a rare collection of 24 exquisite minatures from the Claudio Moscatelli Collection, in a journey across the Indian subcontinent. It is the first show in the UK to focus exclusively on the Ragamala genre.

More information: www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk