New Collecting Narratives: Birmingham Museums' Italian Renaissance and Baroque Decorative Arts Collections

伯明翰的意大利文艺复兴和巴洛克装饰艺术收藏品，包括陶瓷，玻璃，纺织品，家具和金属制品，是第一批被收购的城市之一，并在伯明翰博物馆和艺术画廊（BMAG）于1885年开幕时展出。这些材料可以追溯到15 - 17世纪，主要是由BMAG的第一任主任惠特沃思沃利斯在两次前往意大利的研究旅行中获得的，或者是从南肯辛顿博物馆的第一任馆长查尔斯罗宾逊那里获得的。这些物品显然是从意大利最重要的19世纪文艺复兴艺术经销商那里购买的，包括Stefano Bardini和Giuseppe Salvadori，他们卖给了世界各地的主要机构。最初的研究表明，材料不仅是从佛罗伦萨，但从罗马，米兰，威尼斯等获得。尽管其明显的潜力，这一收集没有任何深入的研究，因为它的购买和它的意义很少探讨。相比之下，在世纪中期收购的意大利巴洛克绘画和雕塑是一个项目的重点，研究和重新展示巴洛克画廊在BMAG与国家美术馆合作，通过策展培训由艺术基金会和Vivmar基金会资助。由于BMAG准备进行重大翻新和重新展示，因此必须更深入地研究相关的装饰艺术品，并充分揭示其意义和与其他收藏品的联系。因此，该项目是及时和原始的结果直接输入到计划的新显示。合作安排将使博士生受益于访问策展人谁拥有详细的知识个人对象和集合本身，以及从学术监督专家在意大利艺术（包括档案研究）和19世纪的显示历史和英意艺术关系。

Birmingham's Italian Renaissance and Baroque decorative art collection, comprising ceramics, glass, textiles, furniture and metalwork, was among the first to be acquired for the city and was exhibited in a dedicated display when Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG) opened in 1885. Dating from the 15th-17th centuries, this material was acquired largely either by the BMAG's first director, Whitworth Wallis, during two research trips to Italy, or from the South Kensington Museum's first curator, Charles Robinson. These objects were apparently purchased from Italy's most important 19th-century dealers of Renaissance art including Stefano Bardini and Giuseppe Salvadori, who sold to major institutions across the world. Initial research suggests that material was acquired not only from Florence but from Rome, Milan, Venice, etc.Despite its obvious potential, this collection has not been studied in any depth since its purchase and its significance is little explored. In contrast, acquisitions made in the mid-20th century of Italian Baroque painting and sculpture were the focus of a project to research and redisplay the Baroque galleries at BMAG in partnership with the National Gallery through a curatorial traineeship funded by the Art Fund and the Vivmar Foundation. As BMAG prepares for a major refurbishment and redisplay, it is crucial that the related holdings of decorative art are researched in greater depth, and their significance and connections to other collections fully revealed. The project is therefore timely and original with results feeding directly into planned new displays. The collaborative arrangement will allow the PhD student to benefit from access to curators who have detailed knowledge of individual objects and of the collection itself, as well as from academic supervision by experts in Italian art (including archival research) and in 19th-century display histories and Anglo-Italian artistic relations.