Young Bomberg and the Old Masters, National Gallery

During the Renaissance, imitation really was considered the highest form of flattery. Artists were encouraged to copy the works of the greats over and over again to refine their own skill – a practice which might seem strange today with the emphasis that we place on originality. However, modern and contemporary artists continue to look back over art history for inspiration to create modern masterpieces.

As a young teenager in London, David Bomberg (1890–1957) would frequently visit the National Gallery to assiduously study the works of his favourite artists, Michelangelo and Botticelli. Although Bomberg's angular shapes and brash colours in works such as The Mud Bath (1914) seem insistently modern, when displayed alongside Michelangelo's The Entombment (1500-1), the viewer can feel the same pulsating drama within his composition as in that of the Florentine master's.

A new exhibition at the National Gallery will explore the influence of Renaissance Masters on the Modernist painter's early work and will no doubt give Bomberg lovers the chance to discover a powerful portrait of the artist as a young man.