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!
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.
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.
Head of a Bodhisattva (3rd Century - 5th Century) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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.
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
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
Saint Catherine of Alexandria (14th century) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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
Laughing Fool (ca. 1500) by possibly Jacob Cornelisz. van OostsanenThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College
Mary Magdalene (late 15th/early 16th century) by Verrocchio, Andrea del (in the manner of)The Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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
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
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
Figure of an Edo King (Oba) (1620 - 1630) by UnknownThe Davis Museum at Wellesley College
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
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.
Upon further research, this coveted painting was attributed to Alonso de Escobar and received extensive conservation and a new period frame.
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.