Art and Science

Remember last year's kerfuffle over George Stubbs' paintings of a "kongouro" and dingo which Australia wanted? The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich raised the purchase price (CLICK). The paintings go on display tomorrow for the first time, in The Queen’s House in a free exhibition entitled The Art and Science of Exploration 1768-80. These are merely two of the historic paintings on show. Here's another: John Webber's The Tahitian Princess Poedua, the daughter of Orio, Chief of Raiatea (1777). This portrait was probably sketched during Captain Cook's last voyage and completed in London. Cook held the 19-year-old princess captive briefly (CLICK).