Carlo Crivelli: Shadows on the Sky

Carlo Crivelli, Virgin and Child , ca. 1480, Victoria and Albert Museum, London,

Carlo Crivelli: Shadows on the Sky,  the first exhibition in the UK dedicated to the work of this Renaissance artist, highlights his experimental use of perspective, trompe l’oeil (optical illusion) and sculptural relief to explore the coexistence of material and spiritual realities. Organised in partnership with The National Gallery, the exhibition also includes loans from other leading institutions such as the National Trust, the Vatican Pinacoteca, the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Wallace Collection, and the Gemäldegalerie. Through these major loans – some for the first time – we are invited to reconsider Crivelli’s sophisticated understanding of the relationship between art and what it represents. With a sense of irony, found five hundred years later in Magritte’s Ceci n’est pas une pipe (1929), he subtly denies the possibility of one being confused with the other.

Although Ikon is an educational charity and works to encourage public engagement with contemporary art, its director, Jonathan Watkins, has long championed Crivelli, and the show is co-curated by Amanda Hilliam, who has recently completed a doctoral thesis on Crivelli and is soon to publish a monograph.

An exhibition guide can be downloaded as a PDF from the exhibition web page.