The National Trust’s collections are not only vast, but contain objects of astonishing beauty, quality and human interest. To coincide with the Trust’s 125 anniversary, we asked nine senior curators — including national experts in painting and sculpture, textiles, furniture and decorative arts — to choose their favourite object from among those in their care.
The Crucifixion (after Jacopo Tintoretto), wooden carving by Grinling Gibbons, at Dunham Massey, Greater Manchester
Chosen by Christopher Rowell, Furniture curator
Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721) gave his name to a whole school of naturalistic limewood carving. His tercentenary in 2021 will be marked by the Trust with exhibitions and a book. Prodigiously skilful and imaginative, he was born and, presumably, trained in Rotterdam, where wood carving was in demand for shipbuilding.
This panel after Tintoretto’s Crucifixion, ambitiously emulating the Old Master’s work, is encompassed by a tightly arranged garland resembling a contemporary Dutch picture frame. When finishing it in a remote rural shed near the Deptford docks in 1671, Gibbons was discovered by John Evelyn, who introduced him to Charles II. Evelyn’s diary brings the genesis and display of the panel vividly to life.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunham-massey
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