John Scarlett Davis

The 1829 painting “The Interior of the British Institution Gallery” by John Scarlett Davis (1829) contains a secret. At first glance it is a painting of a museum. At second glance, all the paintings which Davis has placed on the walls are reproductions of famous paintings. But the real mystery is in the figures viewing the paintings, each patron of the museum is a character from a famous painting.

B1981.25.212