Rooms and rituals

Another major show at the V&A, this time devoted to the more distant past, and thus inevitably of less general interest than a survey of, say, Modernism. It’s not always easy to bring to life a period so different from ours as the courtly and sophisticated Renaissance, though the mix of civilisation and barbarity that fuelled society then is familiar enough today. This display calls itself an exhibition of rooms and rituals, and its intention is to recreate the experience of living in the more affluent of Italian Renaissance homes. Focusing on the trinity of reception room, study and bedroom, and packing the galleries with pictures, furniture, textiles and various other accessories, the show makes a bold attempt to summon the atmosphere of 500 or so years past. If this is not entirely successful, and the galleries lack an essential human warmth to animate them (even with the presence of visitors), then this is not entirely surprising.