The Thomson Collection
About the AGO's Thomson Collection
The works in this collecting area have traditionally represented a survey of European art from the Italian Renaissance to the mid-1900s. More than 1,000 works of art from the Thomson Collection have bolstered the core strength of the European holdings, adding mostly small-scale sculpture dating from the Middle Ages to the 1700s. While the centrepiece of the Thomson Collection is Peter Paul Rubens’ monumental Flemish Baroque painting Massacre of the Innocents (c. 1611–1612), the works that most typified Kenneth Thomson’s collecting interests were diminutive, precious and made from natural materials such as ivory and boxwood.
Among the objects that comprise the Thomson Collection are sacred Medieval enamel and ivory works, Medieval and Renaissance devotional diptychs and secular ivory and boxwood utilitarian objects, Renaissance rosaries and prayer beads; Baroque secular boxwood and ivory sculptures, goldsmith works from the 1300s to the 1600s, and painted and carved portrait miniatures. Other prominent additions from the Thomson Collection include diminutive Egyptian antiquities, small-scale Greek and Roman antiquities, Asian works of art, Chinese snuff bottles dating back to the 1730s, Japanese wood and ivory netsuke and ojime carvings, and some Japanese lacquered objects from the early 1900s. A significant portion of the Thomson Collection is devoted to European ship models.
Navigating the Thomson Ship Model Collection
This series delves into the stories behind the ship models, the ships that inspired them and the people that created them.
The Thomson Collection
The largest gift ever made to a Canadian cultural institution, including signature Canadian and European works
A Conversation with a Collector
In a 1997 conversation, Ken Thomson shares his experiences on collecting with the AGO's Matthew Teitelbaum
The Thomson Collection of Canadian Paintings and First Nations Objects
Learn more about this unparalleled collection comprising some 700 works of art and distinguished by its remarkable breadth, the high quality of the individual works and the rarity of many of its objects
The Thomson Collection of European Art
Get overview information on the Thomson Collection of European Art, which comprises some 900 objects dating from the early Middle Ages to the mid 19th century, and includes The Massacre of the Innocents, by Peter Paul Rubens
The Thomson Collection Publications
Find out about the set of five art books being published to mark the unveiling of the Thomson Collection at the AGO
The Thomson Collection at the AGO Art Experience
Find out more about the extraordinary art experience visitors can expect when they visit the Thomson Collection at the AGO