Somerset House
Michelangelo’s “Dream of Human Life”18th Feb – 16th May 2010
Michelangelo’s “Dream of Human Life” is one of the Courtauld Gallery’s greatest art treasures. It was painted at the height of the artist’s career during the Italian Renaissance, and exemplifies his unrivalled skill and extraordinary powers of invention.
Paul Cézanne’s “Card Players”21st Oct 2010 – 1st Jan 2011
This landmark exhibition will bring together Cézanne’s famous series of paintings of peasants playing cards, which has long been considered among his most important works. These remarkable paintings will be shown alongside some rarely seen preparatory oil sketches and drawings.
Somerset House was built between 1776 and 1786 on the site of the Duke of Somerset’s Tudor Palace.
History of Somerset House
The Duke rose to a position of considerable power under Edward VI, but when he was tried for treason in 1552 the mansion passed to the Crown.
The building then became a base for members of the Royal Family, which Samuel Pepys describes at length in his diaries. Both James I and Charles I made major improvements, and it was refurbished by Christopher Wren in 1685. Unfortunately, it soon fell out of royal favour, and was demolished in 1775.
The Somerset House that we see today was built by William Chambers in 1776. It was originally just one of many 18th-century mansions that lined The Strand from end to end – the Victoria Embankment hadn’t yet been built, so the garden stretched all the way down to the bank – but with the march of concrete progress and the bombs of World War II, it found itself the last one standing.
Uses of Somerset House
Somerset House has had many uses during its lifetime, finding itself home to the Navy, the Exchequer, the Royal Society, and Royal Academy of Arts.
More recently, it has found itself the depository of the nation’s vast collection of birth, death and marriage certificates. When these moved away in 1997 the House was treated to a major refurbishment. The two wings were turned over to three world class art displays, and the car-park in the courtyard was installed with 55 water fountains.
The courtyard now boasts concerts and classical recitals in the summer months, and an outdoor ice-rink is shipped in during the winter.
Galleries at Somerset House
The Courtauld Gallery is perhaps the most famous display in Somerset House, with works by Cézanne, Seurat, Gauguin and Monet. The stand-out pieces are Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear, and Manet’s Bar at the Folies-Bergère.
Pieces from the Early Renaissance period are on the first floor, and the Early/Post Impressionists can be found one floor above. If you are a fan of Rubens, then head for Gallery 5 – it’s devoted entirely to him.
The Hermitage Rooms are really just an adjunct of the St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum. All of the exhibits on display are loaned from their collection, and get rotated every six months or so.
Facts and information
- Address:
- Somerset House, The Strand,
London WC2R 1LA
England - Telephone:
- Work +44 (0) 207 845 4600
- Bus route:
- 1 4 6 9 11 13 15 23 26 59 68 76 87 91 139 168 172 176 177 189 253 341 521 RV1 X68
- Train station:
- Embankment BK CR DS NR, Temple CR DS
- Opening times:
- Collections - 10–6; Great Court - 7.30–11; Guided tours - 1.30, 2.30 and 3.45 (first Sat of each month)
- Cost:
- Adults £5.00; Children free (under-18)
Courtauld Institute of Art
Somerset HouseDid you know… Somerset House features in numerous movies: The Day of the Jackal, when the Jackal gets his birth certificate; Goldeneye, where it doubled up as St. Petersburg, and Sleepy Hollow, where it posed as an old New York building.
Somerset House, c.1722
Somerset House, c.1817Somerset House – Related articles…
> Hermitage RoomsThe Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House are an adjunct to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.