Exhibition of works by Raphael, Dürer and others, with sculpture, textiles and objects, exploring the sensory world of the Renaissance.
Renaissance Worlds: Art and the Senses opens at the Ashmolean Museum on 4 June 2027 and runs through to 10 October. It's a major exhibition that looks at the sensory world of the Renaissance, with works by Raphael, Uccello, Dürer, Sofonisba Anguissola and Antonello da Messina, alongside sculpture, textiles, musical instruments and objects from Europe and beyond.
Most of us think of the Renaissance as a time of linear perspective and the rediscovery of antiquity in Europe, but this show frames it differently: as a period of global multisensory exchange. It brings to life a world shaped by global trade, alive with colour, texture, music, food and fragrance. You'll see iridescent images fashioned from hummingbird feathers, and hear about the sounds of Renaissance drums and lutes, the taste of chocolate, and the scents of incense and spices.
That global connection is the real story here. The exhibition tracks how perfumes, spices, chocolate, gold, cochineal, ivory and lapis lazuli arrived from Africa, Asia and the Americas, and how those materials found their way into the art and objects created between 1450 and 1650. It's less about a single style and more about how the era delighted the senses and revealed an increasingly connected world.
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It's a long run, so you've got plenty of time to fit it in between June and October. Ashmolean Members visit free, and the museum is in the city centre, so it's an easy one to drop into.
