The “Crime and Punishment” exhibition examines the aesthetic of violence and the representation of violent crime and the death penalty in the visual arts through a selection of striking works by major artists.

The death penalty, crime and punishment and Man’s desire to defy an all-powerful God and the supremacy of the King to mete out his own justice – these are all strong themes that have inspired generations of painters. Goya, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cézanne and Degas among others were fascinated by images of crime and capital punishment.

The works on display are pictorial representations of the guillotine, crimes of passion, male and female criminals, prison conditions and the last days of condemned prisoners.

The last few works on display depict the use of the criminal theme in the visual arts.


Some of the pieces presented in the exhibition may be shocking to some visitors (particularly children).