PAINTING A STORY

TODAY, OUR HOMES ARE SO FULL OF THEM THAT THEY NO LONGER SEEM REMARKABLE. BUT LOOKING AT THE WAY BOOKS HAVE BEEN DEPICTED ON CANVAS CAN REVEAL A SURPRISING AMOUNT ABOUT HOW WE LIVE

Our shelves may groan with books, but these objects were once the possession only of the most wealthy, gradually becoming accessible to more people. They’ve appeared in all kinds of paintings from all over the world – as seen in the impressive scope of works featured in Books Do Furnish a Painting – moving from the hands of priests and scholars to become a common feature of our cultural and domestic lives. By the time of most of these paintings, they’d become a symbol of intimacy, comfort and escapism – isn’t that everything you’d want when you pick up a good read?