Exhibition Dates : Tuesday 6 March – Sunday 20 May 2012

In 18th century Europe, enthralled by the discoveries at the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, French landscape painter Hubert Robert (1733 - 1808) became known by the nickname "Robert des ruines" for his many works on these ancient sites.

This exhibition focuses on drawings in red chalk selected from the world-renowned Robert Collection of the Musée de Valence, dating from his earliest production to his final years. Works by Robert's teachers and colleagues including Piranesi and Fragonard from other collections round out the display of 131 oil paintings, drawings, prints and furnishings.

Exhibition Dates : Tuesday 6 March – Sunday 20 May 2012

The Prisons [Carceri d'invenzione] print series was made by the major 18th century Italian print artist, Giovanni Battista Piranesi. These imaginary prisons were created with his impressive and powerful line work and bold compositions. With the beginning of the 19th century and the rise of Romanticism, these prints stimulated the imagination of many writers. In the intervening decades and centuries, these prints have continued to exert an influence architecture, novels and film. This exhibition presents the first state of the series, along with the second state, which involved considerable reworking of the first plates, plus two additional prints.