Lunchtime Talk: Chromatic Legacies and Pigment Provenance - Scientific Insights into Ruskin’s Teaching Materials

Join Professor Andrew Beeby and Dr Victoria Kemp to explore their research on a palette attributed to John Ruskin. 

In the latest Ruskin exhibition at the Millennium Gallery there is an important historical artefact on display that is undergoing significant research; a paint palette believed to have belonged to John Ruskin that would have been used between 1886-1920.  

By employing non-destructive scientific techniques such as X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fibre Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS), Andrew and Victoria uncover the chromatic choices Ruskin made as part of his vision to educate the Victorian man and woman to appreciate the beauty of nature through art.  

By identifying the pigments in the Ruskin Teaching Collection, they have gained deeper insight into how Ruskin selected materials for his own use, as well as how he curated examples of materials used by contemporary artists represented in the collection, shedding light on 19th-century artistic practices and material choices.  

In this talk they will reflect on the intersection of art, science, and education in Ruskin’s legacy, and how material culture continues to inform contemporary scholarship and conservation. 

This listing is for the in-person talk happening at the Millennium Gallery. Thanks to funding from the Chromotope project, the event will also be live streamed to watch online – if you would like to book a ticket to the live stream of the event instead, please click here. 

This talk is supported by Chromotope, an ERC funded Research Project. 

Dr Victoria Kemp is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Ashmolean Museum. Professor Andrew Beeby is Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Departmental Rep (Chemistry) in the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Durham University. 

This event is part of the programme of events complementing The Ruskin Collection: Capturing Colour at Millennium Gallery.