Virtue, Vice & the Senses: Prints 1540–1660

This exhibition looks at the spread and development of prints representing abstract qualities such as the Five Senses, Seven Virtues and Deadly Sins. German and Netherlandish sixteenth-century examples feature female figures accompanied by animals associated with the concept in question, or holding significant objects or attributes. At the turn of the seventeenth century, printmakers in Holland, France and England became more inventive, moving away from traditional allegorical depictions to pairs of amorous couples, women in fashionable dress and elaborate domestic scenes.

• Exhibition run: Tuesday 17th March 2020 to Sunday 14th June 2020