Peace Breaks Out! , Sir John Soane's Museum

To commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War this year, Sir John Soane's Museum has decided to go a little off-piste and take us back a further one hundred years to 1814: the year the Treaty of Paris was signed, heralding the end of the Napoleonic wars. This may seem a peculiar choice but, as curator Dr. Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski explains, the signing of the treaty was to lay the foundations for the political alliances and antagonisms of the next hundred years, leading up to the First World War.

Peace Breaks Out! London and Paris in the summer of 1814 is a thought-provoking and intelligent exhibition in the intimate setting of Sir John Soane's museum. A must see for anyone interested in the political history of Europe, it will afford much gratification to the curious minds of dabbling scholars. On show are paintings and prints from the original 'summer of love' in 1814, as well as items from Soane's collection of Napoleonica, architectural drawings, and satirical cartoons depicting an Englishman visiting Paris.

For anyone who has not visited before, the museum's collection is displayed in its original setting: the private house of eccentric architect Sir John Soane. A short walk from Holborn, the museum is a hidden marvel. As is the case with Peace Breaks Out!, the exhibition programme draws heavily on specific elements of the vast collection. We are certain that this show will be another fantastic exercise in breathing new life into this endlessly charming time capsule  – don’t miss out!