18 Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London, which opened to the public in 1817. It was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination. Dulwich is the oldest public art gallery in England and was made an independent charitable trust in 1994. Until this time the gallery was part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift, a charitable foundation established by the actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Edward Alleyn in the early-17th century. The acquisition of artworks by its founders and bequests from its many patrons resulted in Dulwich Picture Gallery housing one of the country's finest collections of Old Masters, especially rich in French, Italian and Spanish Baroque paintings and in British portraits from Tudor times to the 19th century.

The painting of the Adoration of the Shepherds of c. 1607–10 by the Italian 17th century master Domenichino has been in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh since 1971, and was previously in the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London.

Sir Peter Francis Lewis Bourgeois RA was a British landscape and history painter, and court painter to king George III of the United Kingdom. In the late 18th century he became an art dealer and collector in association with Frenchman Noël Desenfans. The pair were commissioned by Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski to compile a collection of paintings, which they spent five years doing, but Stanisław's exile in 1795 meant the contract could not be completed and they were left with a large collection of paintings. Bourgeois outlived Desenfans and bequeathed the art to Dulwich College with an additional £2000 to build a permanent building to house it. This became the Dulwich Picture Gallery, England's first purpose-built public art gallery.

William Cartwright was an English actor of the seventeenth century, whose career spanned the Caroline era to the Restoration. He is sometimes known as William Cartwright, Junior or William Cartwright the younger to distinguish him from his father, another William Cartwright, an actor of the previous generation.

Margaret Desenfans (1737-1814) or (1731-1814) was one of three founders of Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Dulwich Outdoor Gallery (DOG) is a collection of street art in south London, with works based on traditional paintings in Dulwich Picture Gallery. The DOG was established by Ingrid Beazley, a pioneer of promoting street art.

William Linley (1771–1835) was one of seven musical siblings born to Thomas Linley the elder and his wife Mary Johnson.

Mrs Elizabeth Moody with her sons Samuel and Thomas is a portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, originally painted as a single portrait of Mrs Moody around 1779-80 as a commission from her new husband Samuel Moody. She died in 1782 and the children are thought to have been added in 1784 or 1785. The painting was given to the Dulwich Picture Gallery in 1831 by Thomas Moody, one of the sons shown in the work, possibly to prevent it from passing to his step-mother, with whom he was not on friendly terms.

The Petrobelli Altarpiece is a painting of c. 1563 by Paolo Veronese, the remaining fragments of which are now divided between four museums.

Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III is a 1632 oil on canvas portrait by Rembrandt of the engraver Jacob de Gheyn III, now in Dulwich Picture Gallery. It is smaller than most of Rembrandt's works, measuring only 29.9 by 24.9 centimetres. It has been stolen numerous times and its size is one factor that has contributed to its numerous thefts.

Samuel Linley was the second son of Thomas Linley the elder and Mary Johnson, one of seven musical siblings born to that couple.

Thomas Linley was an English bass and musician active in Bath, Somerset. Born in Badminton, Gloucestershire, Linley began his musical career after he moved to Bath at age 11 and became apprentice to the organist Thomas Chilcot. After his marriage to Mary Johnson in 1752, Linley at first supported his wife and growing family predominantly as a music teacher. As his children grew and he developed their musical talent, he drew an increasing amount of income from their concerts while also managing the assembly rooms in Bath. When the new Bath Assembly Rooms opened in 1771, Linley became musical director and continued to promote his children's careers. He was eventually able to move to London with the thousands of pounds which he had amassed from their concerts.

Thomas (Tom) Linley the younger was the eldest son of the composer Thomas Linley the elder and his wife Mary Johnson. He was one of the most precocious composers and performers that have been known in England, and became known as the "English Mozart".

William Linley (1771–1835) was one of seven musical siblings born to Thomas Linley the elder and his wife Mary Johnson.

Saint Sebastian is an oil on canvas painting of Saint Sebastian, now in the Dulwich Picture Gallery. It was worked on by Guido Reni himself from 1620 to 1639 but left unfinished. It is almost identical to another copy of the work in Auckland, though that work is much smaller and has slightly different colouring. The Dulwich work was catalogued as a studio work in 1880 and in 1980 as a copy, but is now accepted as one of two autograph copies of the original.

Samson and Delilah is a 1620 painting by Anthony van Dyck. He produced it just after his return from Italy and shortly before leaving for London It was heavily inspired by his tutor Rubens's version of the same subject and for a long time was attributed to Rubens. Van Dyck inverted the composition and showed Delilah in white chalk make-up and heavily rouged cheeks, the makeup traditionally worn by Parisian prostitutes. The painting is now held in the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. He returned to the subject in 1630.

Elizabeth Ann Sheridan was a singer who possessed great beauty. She was the subject of several paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, who was a family friend, Joshua Reynolds and Richard Samuel. An adept poet and writer, she became involved with the Blue Stockings Society and participated in Whig politics.

A composition of Venus and Adonis by the Venetian Renaissance artist Titian has been painted a number of times, by Titian himself, by his studio assistants and by others. In all there are some thirty versions that may date from the 16th century, the nudity of Venus undoubtedly accounting for this popularity. It is unclear which of the surviving versions, if any, is the original or prime version, and a matter of debate how much involvement Titian himself had with surviving versions. There is a precise date for only one version, that in the Prado in Madrid, which is documented in correspondence between Titian and Philip II of Spain in 1554. However, this appears to be a later repetition of a composition first painted a considerable time earlier, possibly as early as the 1520s.