When it comes to Renaissance art forms, the watercolor seems always to be cast aside in favor of more obvious candidates: sculpture (Michelangelo’s David comes to mind), frescoes (the Sistine Chapel), architecture (Saint Peter’s Basilica, in Rome), painting (Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait), and even drawings (just last year, The Queen’s Gallery, in London, dedicated a whole exhibition to Leonardo’s drawings). A new show at the V&A makes a case for the medium of watercolor, unifying 200 Renaissance masterpieces—including works by Leonardo, Albrecht Dürer, and Hans Hoffmann—for the first time. —J.V.

Renaissance Watercolours: from Dürer to Van Dyck
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Rd, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL, UK
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