Renaissance childbirth
To celebrate a successful birth, women were given special foods and gifts, including birth trays and amulets.…
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The St Margaret altarpiece
This imposing painted oak altarpiece tells the story of Saint Margaret of Antioch, who was martyred for refusing to…
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Annunciation to the Shepherds
The design for this roundel is very similar to that of a manuscript, dated about 1325 to 1335 that is now in The Ha…
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Buddhism & the life of the Buddha
The legends associated with the major events of the Buddha's life, given here in condensed form, are based on a num…
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Room 125b: Birth, Marriage & Death
Objects relating to birth, marriage and death in Victorian Britain are on display in this room. Rigid social conven…
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An adorned print: Print culture, female leisure and the dissemination of fashion in France and England, around 1660-1779
Marie-Thérèse Perdou de Subligny (1666-1735) was one of the first opera dancers, with a career that began in around 1688. Her presentation in an adorned engraved print (fig.1) provides an ideal platform for the discussion of cultural life between 1660 and 1779, bringing together diverse issues such as the production and consumption of French prints; opera; celebrity; the dissemination of fashion and female domestic craft. This paper sets the Subligny print in its cultural contexts, and rejects the notion that decorated engravings, such as this one, disseminated contemporary fashions.
Past exhibitions & displays 2011
Listings of past major exhibitions, displays and installations that opened in the V&A in 2011.
18th-century fashion reading list
Recommended reading about 18th century fashion.
20th-century designers (Italy) reading list
A brief reading list of Italian based 20th century designers.
20th-century designers (French-based) reading list
‘Recommended reading about French-based 20th century designers
British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age
31 March–12 August 2012
Showcasing over 300 British design objects, this exhibition celebrates the best of British post-war art and design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Games' to the summer of 2012.
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