Bronze
15 September - 9 December 2012
Main Galleries, Burlington House
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
This exhibition has closed.
Friends of the RA go free
Discover the compelling stories behind some of the world’s greatest masterpieces, in a celebration of bronze on a scale never attempted before.
This exhibition brings together outstanding works from the earliest times to the present in a thematic arrangement that is fresh and unique.
With works spanning 5,000 years, no such cross-cultural exhibition on this scale has ever been attempted. The exhibition features over 150 of the finest bronzes from Asia, Africa and Europe and includes important discoveries as well as archaeological excavations. Many of the pieces have never been seen in the UK.
Bronze brings together outstanding works from antiquity to the present. The exhibition features stunning Ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan bronzes, through to rare survivals from the Medieval period. The Renaissance is represented by the works of artists such as Ghiberti, Donatello, Cellini, and later Giambologna, De Vries and others. Bronzes by Rodin, Boccioni, Picasso, Jasper Johns, Moore, Beuys and Bourgeois are representative of the best from the 19th century to today.
The exhibition offers a unique exploration of artistic practice, an understanding of the physical properties and distinctive qualities of bronze, and the rare opportunity to see the very best examples in one place.
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
This exhibition has closed.
Friends of the RA go free
Reviews
"'Bronze' is a stupendous achievement, little short of a miracle."
The Independent
Gallery
The Pharisee, St John the Baptist, and The Levite from The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, 1511
Spider IV, 1996
The Dancing Satyr
Cecelia Treves discusses the ancient Greek sculpture The Dancing Satyr, one of the most exciting bronze discoveries of recent years.
Pablo Picasso's Baboon and Young
David Ekserdjian introduces Pablo Picasso's Baboon and Young, an inventive example of 20th-century bronze sculpture that uses some rather unorthodox materials.
Hear from our visitors
What our visitors are saying about Bronze.
A journey which will take visitors from 5,000 years ago to the present day, via some of the greatest names in history
The Times