16 May 2023 Lecture at 7.00pm

Royal Geographical Society

Xavier Bray

Director of the Wallace Collection

The 2023 Venice in Peril Kirker lecture will be given by Dr Xavier Bray, the Director of the Wallace Collection, who will explore Venice through the lens of the collection’s treasures. From masterpieces by Titian and Canaletto to glass and decorative arts, fresh insights will link this wonderful museum on our doorstep with Britain’s longstanding fascination with La Serenissima.

Dr Xavier Bray is a renowned art historian and curator specialising in 17th- and 18th-century art and has been Director of the Wallace Collection since 2016. He began his career as Assistant Curator at the National Gallery, London and then as Chief Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Bilbao before moving to Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2011.

His many publications and exhibition catalogues include El Greco, Caravaggio, Velasquez, The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture 1600-1700; Murillo and Justino de Neve: The Art of Friendship and most recently Goya: The Portraits.

Since joining the Wallace Collection he has overseen and co-curated several exhibitions including Richard Wallace: The Collector, Henry Moore: The Helmet Heads and most recently with the writer William Dalrymple, Forgotten Masters: Indian Painting for the East India Company. He is also the lead Curator on the Wallace’s upcoming exhibition Portraits of Dogs: from Gainsborough to Hockney, which opens 29 March 2023.

PAST EVENT

Lecture Recording Available 

Link to the Recording will be sent via email