What Jane Saw provides 21st century visitors an opportunity to virtually attend two 18th and 19th century museum blockbusters that Jane Austen visited: the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in 1796 and the Sir Joshua Reynolds retrospective in 1813. Both exhibitions were held in the same London showroom at 52 Pall Mall. The Shakespeare Gallery is full of illustrations from Shakespeare's plays that can be viewed alongside text of the associated scene, such as Act 4, Scene 1 of The Tempest, painted by Joseph Wright. There is also a catalogue of all 40 of the works in the show and a floor plan. The Joshua Reynolds exhibition is arranged similarly in three rooms, with a floor plan and catalog, offering visitors the ability to view extensive information about each painting. For example, No. 1 is Reynolds' portrait of King George III, painted when the King was about 40, before he succumbed to mental illness. The image is accompanied by a contextualizing description and links for further reading. What Jane Saw was developed by Janine Barchas, a professor of English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin.
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