The Davis Museum at Wellesley College is home to distinguished permanent collections from around the globe; holdings include paintings, sculptures, works on paper, photographs, and decorative objects, from antiquity to the contemporary moment. Dynamic gallery presentations and richly varied temporary exhibitions are designed to engage visitors in looking anew at the visual arts, and enhance the Davis’s role as a vital campus resource for cross-disciplinary teaching and study.There’s always something for everyone at the Davis!

Davis Museum Study Gallery 2015 right (2015)The Davis Museum at Wellesley College

A Vital Academic Resource

Study from original works of art has been integral to liberal arts education at Wellesley College since the institution’s founding in 1875. The Davis is deeply committed to its role as a teaching resource, and builds and presents its collections in support of student course work and faculty scholarship. We present to you highlights from the Davis Museum collection. 

Archival Photo of Wellesley College Farnsworth sculpture (1000-01-01) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

The Davis Museum traces its origins to the 1889 dedication of the Farnsworth Art Building on the Wellesley College campus. It housed collections that dated to the founding of the College in 1875.

Archival Photo of Wellesley College Farnsworth courtyard (1000-01-01) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Many of the objects on display in the original Farnsworth Art Building can still be seen in the Davis Museum art galleries. A complete reinstallation of the Davis Museum is set to open in 2016.

Sculptor's Model, Head in Profile, Unknown, 16th Century BCE - 13th Century BCE, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Floor from the Villa of Daphne (5th century C.E. - 5th century C.E.) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

In its early life, this mosaic formed the floor of a triclinium in the Villa Daphne, a middle-class house in a suburb of the ancient city of Antioch.

Archival Photo of Wellesley College Students mosaic 1936 (1936) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Students worked to repair the 1500 year old Antioch mosaic that originally laid in the Farnsworth Art Museum at Wellesley College. The mosaic will move to a new location at the Davis Museum in 2016.

Archival Photo of Wellesley College school group Jewett (1000-01-01) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

A school group sits upon the mosaic in Jewett Arts Center at Wellesley College.

State Coin of Alexander the Great with Head of Nike/Athena (336 B.C.E - 323 B.C.E.) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Male Nude (Late Republican or Early Imperial, ca. 100 B.C.E.-100 C.E. - Late Republican or Early Imperial, ca. 100 B.C.E.-100 C.E.) by Unknown; Polykleitos (in the manner of)The Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Known as the Wellesley Athlete, this Roman classical sculpture was one of the first antiquities acquired by Wellesley. Its style reflects the influence of 5th century B.C. Greek sculptor Polykleitos.

Standing Woman with headdress, Unknown, Gandhara period, Kushan Dynasty, 3rd-5th century C.E., From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Bowl with Mythological Being, Unknown, 300 B.C.E. - 500 C.E., From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Head of a Bodhisattva (3rd Century - 5th Century) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Placenta Jar, Unknown, 5th Century - 6th Century, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Standing Noble with Feather Shield (700 - 900) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

This ceramic figure of a man would have originally been brightly painted. Such figurines were used in burials on Jaina Island, Mexico, where Mayans believed the sun descended into the underworld.

Lower body of a Yakshi, Unknown, ca. early 10th century, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Jug (ca. 1050 - ca. 1150) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Capital (Musician Playing a Vielle) (ca. 1125-50) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Lotiform (Conical) Bowl, Unknown, 10th century - 14th century, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Saucer, Unknown, 12th Century - 13th Century, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Tea Bowl (12th century - 13th century) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

This tea bowl is an example of Jian ware made during the Southern Song Dynasty, an era known for high quality ceramics . This particular glaze is known as “Hare’s Fur” due to its thin brown streaks.

Central Plaque from a Cross (first third of the 13th century) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Christ Mounting the Cross and the Funeral of Saint Clare (ca. 1290) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Tzu-chou Saucer, Unknown, 1368 - 1644, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Saint Catherine of Alexandria (14th century) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Unknown, ca. 1460, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Saint Barbara, Unknown, ca. 1460, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Saint Bartholomew Vanquishing a Demon, Fray Alonso de Zamora (attributed to), 1476/1510, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Assumption of the Virgin (ca. 1485) by Pedro BerrugueteThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Bust of the Madonna (1495 - 1500) by Dell' Aquila SilvestroThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist and Saints Andrew and Jerome (1495 - 1500) by Pinturicchio (Bernardino Di Betto)The Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Standing figure of a Saint or Apostle, Henning von der Heide, ca. 1500-10, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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St. John the Baptist, Unknown, ca. 1500, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Laughing Fool (ca. 1500) by possibly Jacob Cornelisz. van OostsanenThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

St. Francis Redceiving the Stigmata, Romagna School, 15th Century, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Mary Magdalene (late 15th/early 16th century) by Verrocchio, Andrea del (in the manner of)The Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Raising of the Cross, Treviso, Girolamo Da (The Younger), ca. 1530, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Saint Francis (after 1544) by Vasari, Giorgio (workshop of)The Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Holy Family with Saints Margaret and Francis, Fontana, Lavinia, 1578 - 1578, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Judith with the Head of Holofernes (3rd quarter 16th century) by Unknown and Unidentified Flemish artistThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Rape of a Sabine (from the original of ca. 1583) by Giambologna (after)The Davis Museum at Wellesley College

This sculpture depicts a moment in a story about the origins of the ancient city of Rome. The focus is on the spatial problem of interweaving three types of moving bodies into a single composition.

Photograph of a student in 1968 studying Giambologna’s Rape of a Sabine, from the original of ca. 1583. (1968) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

In 1958, the collection moved to the Jewett Arts Center, which provided an intimate environment that enhanced Wellesley’s teaching resources and made the collections available to the entire community.

Lamentation with Saints Augustine and Nicholas of Tolentino (1590s) by Gregorio Martínez y EspinosaThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Portrait of a Man, Palma, Jacopo, il giovane (attributed to), 16th-17th century, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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The Five Senses (1601 - 1671) by Jan van BijlertThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Archival Photo of Wellesley College student Five Senses (1000-01-01) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

The Jewett Arts Center offered a dedicated gallery for the study of Wellesley’s growing permanent collections and an opportunity to see temporary exhibitions.

Philemon and Baucis Entertaining Jupiter and Mercury (1610 - 1630) by Abraham JanssensThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

St. Francis in Ecstasy, Bernardo Strozzi, ca. 1610-20, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Figure of an Edo King (Oba) (1620 - 1630) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

St. Jerome, Valentin de Boulogne, ca. 1628-30, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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A Double Portrait (1630 - 1639) by Abraham de VriesThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Youth in the Plumed Hat (ca. 1630-36) by Mattia PretiThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Still Life with Side of Beef Before & After, Alonso de (attributed to) Escobar, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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When Davis curators recently delved into storage in preparation for the upcoming 2016 reinstallation project, they uncovered a rare example of seventeenth-century Spanish still life painting.

Still Life with Side of Beef, Alonso de Escobar, 17th century, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Upon further research, this coveted painting was attributed to Alonso de Escobar and received extensive conservation and a new period frame.

Two Boeier Yachts Close in to the Shore with a Flagship Coming in to Anchor mid-conservation, Willem van de Velde I, From the collection of: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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Davis curators were delighted to discover a superlative example of a "pen-painting" tucked away in Museum storage, and pursued conservation treatment to restore it.