Art imitates life as Fitzwilliam Museum puts PPE in the frames of some of its most celebrated exhibits
- The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has re-imagined its artworks to fit in with times of social distancing
- New adaptations are being sold as postcards to raise money after Covid-19 closed the museum in March
- PPE has been added on to historic artworks by John Everett Millais, Alfred Emile Leopold Stevens and Titian
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Advertisement
A museum has created postcard versions depicting how its artworks may look in times of social distancing.
The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has been closed since March, along with galleries across the country, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a light-hearted attempt to raise vital funds, the museum has created postcards of its exhibits, with personal protective equipment covering the painted portraits.
PPE has been added to the likes of the Bridesmaid, painted by John Everett Millais, his subject now wears a floral mask. Other works by Millais including The Twins and his portrait of Kate and Grace Hoare are among the new adaptations, as well as Belgian painter Alfred Emile Leopold Stevens’s La Liseuse, which translates as The Reader.
Luke Syson, the museum’s director, said: ‘Over the last few weeks, things we took for granted have become precious. One of those is humour, that sometimes feels in short supply.
‘These doctored versions of some of the Fitz’s great masterpieces wittily re-imagine their protagonists as living at this moment.
‘What a difference to our understanding of their actions and interactions the addition of a face-cover makes.
‘But perhaps they make a serious point too – of how we expect to greet one another with hugs and kisses – and how much changes when that’s not possible.
‘At least we can still laugh together. That’s not changed. And I hope these might help.’
The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has re-imagined how some of its most famous works of art would look in a world of social distancing. Titian’s Venus and Cupid with a Lute Player – dating back to the 16th century – is among the exhibits to get a new look
The daughters of Sir Matthew Decker, originally by Jan Van Meyer, are now wearing personal protective equipment, along with their doll. However, there isn’t much room for two-metre distancing in the 18th century artwork
John Everett Millais’ Bridesmaid dons a floral mask to match her dress. The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge is selling postcards adapting its exhibits to raise vital funds after shutting during the coronavirus lockdown
The Twins, by John Everett Millais, was painted in 1876. While the sisters were already wearing gloves, they now have protective masks on too in the Fitzwilliam Museum’s social distancing parody
Alfred Emile Leopold Stevens’s La Liseuse, or The Reader, has been adapted into a postcard to raise money for The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge