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Working with Professor Hannah Thompson, an expert in audio description, Royal Holloway's Art Collections have created this tour, allowing visitors to explore some of our paintings through audio descriptions provided by people from across the college.

The project is ongoing and is currently on hold due to Covid-19, but we are planning to create descriptions for all the works on display in our Picture Gallery.

This tour is designed particularly for visually-impaired visitors. It is part of our ongoing objective to make our collections accessible for all.

Join Dr Greer Crawley, Royal Holloway, University of London Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance, as she talks about her favourite works of art in Royal Holloway's collections from her unique perspective as a scenographer. The tour was inspired by her work with the art collections on a number of projects over the last few years during which she was struck by a number of works and responded to them as a designer. Dr Greer is active in research, scholarship and professional practice, with expertise that spans a range of specialisms. She has curated a number of exhibitions, is an Associate of the Museums Association, Director of the Society of British Theatre Designers, and editor for the journal of the Society of British Theatre Designers.

Royal Holloway's Picture Gallery is packed with examples of Victorian animal paintings - including works by some of the most prolific artists of the subject. This tour offers an introduction to animal painters, and to animals in paintings, in the collection. Learn about some of our most important animal paintings - from the humble to the ambitious - some of which may surprise you.

The long nineteenth century was a period of major social, political, and economic upheaval. This tour explores how artists of the Victorian period contributed to wider debates surrounding poverty, justice and liberty.

Victorian landscape paintings provide an insight into contemporary attitudes to rural country life, fantasies of place and changing politics of the countryside. Join cultural geographer Eleanor Cooper to explore how landscape paintings in the Picture Gallery fulfil and challenge Victorian experiences and expectations of place.

The Picture Gallery Composer-in-Residence Scheme is a ground-breaking residency in which successful student composers from the Department of Music will have their musical responses to the Picture Gallery and some of its wonderful paintings performed by an invited ensemble each year.

In 2022, we invited 6 composers and 6 creative writers to respond to the artworks displayed in the Picture Gallery. The resulting compositions and poems were each inspired by the art collection, and were performed by the Choir of Royal Holloway at a premiere concert in February 2023. The recordings you will hear today were taken during that concert.

For this tour, we recommend taking a seat in front of the painting and using a pair of headphones to immerse yourself in both composition and artwork.