Sensing The Unseen: Step Into Gossaert’s ‘Adoration’ /&/ Conversations With God: Jan Matejko’s Copernicus – National Gallery, London

Reviews of two small, free, and interesting exhibitions at the National Gallery – Jan Gossaert’s Adoration vs. Jan Matejko’s Copernicus. Both take a very different approach to getting to know a single painting in-depth.

Hyper-Focused Exhibitions – Secret Weapons Against Museum Fatigue

I have been to the National Gallery a handful of times between lockdowns. Sometimes to see paid exhibitions like Titian or Artemesia, and sometimes to see free displays. I have preferred the free displays throughout. Personally I thought even pre-Covid that the National Gallery oversold tickets to their exhibitions, leading to them being packed full of eager visitors. Social distancing just adds another layer of stress to proceedings. I can’t concentrate when I’m constantly aware of where everyone is around me and when I’m having to queue to look at each painting…

I can concentrate very well, on the other hand, when I have the place more or less to myself and have time to take in what I’m looking at. And to read the texts as well. On a recent early morning visit to the National Gallery I was lucky enough to have this experience for not one but two free displays. The first, Sensing the Unseen: Step Into Gossaert’s ‘Adoration’ is a multi-media exploration of a highly detailed Northern Renaissance painting. The second, Conversations With God: Jan Matejko’s Copernicus is a loan of one of Poland’s most treasured paintings. The two exhibitions face off on opposite sides of the National Gallery’s main staircase (currently closed to allow a one-way system), so can easily be visited in one trip.

I liked that these exhibitions were hyper-focused. The National Gallery encourages us to really look at these two works. What can we learn from looking closely at them? What display techniques or additional materials help us to understand them? Any national art gallery can be huge and overwhelming, so I appreciate the encouragement to take my time and properly look. Let us now take some time, then, to look at each exhibition in more detail.

Sensing the Unseen: Step Into Gossaert’s ‘Adoration’

I had been hoping to see this exhibition between previous lockdowns, when it only had a very short run indeed. So again I am thankful for the various exhibition extensions that London’s institutions have facilitated. Sensing the Unseen is a multi-media exhibition focusing on a work by Jan Gossaert of circa 1510-1515. It is firmly in the Northern/Flemish Renaissance tradition, meaning a lot of exquisite detail. The three kings have arrived to pay tribute to Mary and baby Jesus. The scene takes place in a ruined palace, while townspeople and shepherds look on.

It is the exquisite detail which is the focus of this experience. After a minute or so to admire the painting, visitors head to one of three personal pods. There is a quick orientation of how the technology works (extend arm to zoom in etc.). Then the screen begins to pan around the painting. The quality of the zoom is extraordinary. You can see the detailing on clothes, the shepherds far off in the distance, the people peering through gaps to catch a glimpse of the Virgin and Child. When you have a moment to admire the painting again at the end, you marvel at just how tiny some of those scenes are.

All in all I thought it was a great exhibition. It’s logistically challenging as it lasts 13 minutes and there are only 3 places, so you need to book a timeslot with a host at the entrance. If you manage to do that, however, it’s wonderfully immersive. I loved having a pod to myself, zooming into Gossaert’s painting at leisure and hearing the sound effects of dogs crunching bones, things fluttering in the breeze… There is an ‘at home’ version for those who aren’t able to get to the National Gallery in the next couple of weeks. You can find it here. The National Gallery did a similar thing with a Leonardo work a few years ago, so perhaps this is part of a trend. Keep them coming, I say!

Conversations With God: Jan Matejko’s Copernicus

The second of the National Gallery’s small free displays is the more traditional of the two. Conversations With God centres on one of Poland’s most iconic paintings, Astronomer Copernicus (1873). A well-known history painter throughout Europe in his time, Matejko is now largely forgotten outside Poland. Perhaps bolstering this reputation once more is why Jagiellonian University in Kraków was willing to loan this prized possession to the National Gallery. The painting interprets Nicolaus Copernicus’s belief that his theory of the universe was not incompatible with religion, by showing him in direct conversation with God.

It was the small flourishes in this exhibition that I admired. The stars on the walls reflect the skies as seen on the day of Copernicus’s death. The text panels are in English and Polish – an inclusive touch. The few additional items on display (scientific instruments and a copy of the 1543 book included by Matejko in the painting) help our understanding of what we are seeing. The exhibition is only one room but packs a punch.

If I were to pick one of the two for the time-poor visitor, I would suggest trying to get a slot for Sensing the Unseen. Conversations With God is on for a lot longer so there is more chance to see it, but also the point of this exhibition is that it displays an important Polish painting for the first time. It’s thus a bit more academic and less about the exhibition medium itself. The ultimate, though, is comparing and contrasting the two. I hope to see more great displays like this from the National Gallery throughout 2021.

Sensing The Unseen: 4/5
Conversations With God: 3/5

Sensing The Unseen on until 13 June 2021
Conversations With God on until 22 August 2021

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