The Art of Arches

Every year, Frieze Masters partners with The National Gallery in London to feature an artwork from the collection on the fair’s invitations, posters and signs - including paintings by Crivelli, Bronzino, Degas and della’Francesca.

This year, it’s the turn of Sassetta's San Sepolcro Altarpiece. The painting was selected for its strong architectural features, in particular its many arches. 

In our short film, Caroline Campbell, The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department the National Gallery, tells us about the role of arches and the emerging importance of architecture in Italian Renaissance art.  

For Frieze London, artist Pablo Bronstein collaborated with frieze designer Amy Preston to select arches in a variety of architectural styles from around London. In this video Pablo tells us what’s so radical about the arches of St Mary Woolnoth, and why the arch is everywhere in London.

Find out more about the arch’s ‘meanings and associations, whether ceremonial, sacred, political or personal’ with the National Gallery’s online publication, or read novelist Ali Smith’s reflections on ‘the roof over the top of all the journeys’ from the latest issue of Frieze Week.

Credits: Sassetta, San Sepolcro Altarpiece, 1437-44 The National Gallery, London. Bought with contributions from The Art Fund, Benjamin Guinness and Lord Bearsted, 1934

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