To be held on 17 September 2025
Paintings are a wonderful source for the jewellery historian. This talk explores what jewellery was worn and how it interacted with dress, as well as what jewellery was worn by particular people and how this changed over time. Paintings can show us lost jewels which have been destroyed or stolen.
But should we trust paintings? This lecture looks at whether jewels in paintings reflected real life use or were artistic inventions. We will also look at some iconic surviving jewels, like the pendant given by Elizabeth I to Sir Francis Drake.
Jewels in paintings can send a message, whether it is the gold chain worn by Renaissance artists or the diamond ring on the little finger of an eighteenth century gentleman. Looking at jewels in paintings enriches our understanding, not only of jewellery but also of art.
Rachel Church
Rachel Church developed a love of history as a student in Cambridge. After a Masters in Museum Studies, she went on to work as a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She became an expert in jewellery by cataloguing and researching the collection, and as part of the team which redisplayed the William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery in 2011. Her books Rings (V&A / Thames and Hudson, 2011 and 2017) and Brooches and Badges (V&A / Thames and Hudson, 2019) look at the human stories behind some of our most beautiful jewels. She lectures on V&A courses, for the Goldsmiths company and many arts societies.