How the Renaissance came to Bath

Ready to take your journey of Discovery? Renaissance: Journeys of Discovery at BRLSI is a year-long programme of talks and events exploring the many joys, discoveries and something of the broader cultural legacy of a movement still making waves in the 21st century. Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Martin Luther, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Machiavelli, Hieronymus Bosch… if you love culture then you’ll love our talks series!

And beyond Renaissance: Journeys of Discovery at BRLSI, how is Bath celebrating the Renaissance more widely? The Holburne Museum, Bath, opened a sparkling new gallery in September 2025, showcasing one of the finest private collections of Renaissance silverware, paintings, bronzes, maiolica and gems, from the Schroder family collection.

The masterpieces include a mechanical celestial globe, The Aldobrandini Tazza and paintings by artists including Lucas Cranach the Elder and Hans Holbein the Elder.

In this talk, Holburne Museum Curator Eleanor Powlesland will reveal how an extraordinary collection of Renaissance treasures came to Bath in 2025 as a long-term highlight of the city’s cultural heritage. She will explain how the collection was created over generations, and how its magnificent riches fit into the global Renaissance movement. She will also pick some of her favourite items from the museum’s new Renaissance gallery to explore in detail.

Eleanor Powlesland, Curator, Holburne Museum Bath