Nottinghamshire &amp; Derbyshire

A new exhibition at Chatsworth is always a treat. Whether it’s the magical festive dressing of the house for Christmas or an art exhibition designed to last all spring and summer like this one, when you’ve got a canvas like Derbyshire&#8217;s elegant Chatsworth House to play with, you’re off to a great start.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="683" height="1024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Lucy-Royle-with-_Sister-Hut_-by-Chiara-Camoni-in-the-Painted-Hall-683x1024.jpg" alt="woman looks at sculpture at the gorgeous nothings exhibition chatsworth" class="wp-image-12529" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Lucy-Royle-with-_Sister-Hut_-by-Chiara-Camoni-in-the-Painted-Hall-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Lucy-Royle-with-_Sister-Hut_-by-Chiara-Camoni-in-the-Painted-Hall-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Lucy-Royle-with-_Sister-Hut_-by-Chiara-Camoni-in-the-Painted-Hall-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Lucy-Royle-with-_Sister-Hut_-by-Chiara-Camoni-in-the-Painted-Hall.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sister (Hut) sculpture by Chiara Camoni in The Painted Hall</figcaption></figure>



The latest, <a href="https://www.chatsworth.org/events/gorgeous-nothings/">The Gorgeous Nothings: Flowers at Chatsworth</a>, opened at the weekend and is a captivating collision of art and science, an gorgeous gathering of art and knowledge. Prettily named after Emily Dickinson’s poem referencing her habit of scrawling short verses on scraps of paper and envelopes, individually the works may be considered ‘gorgeous nothings’, but collectively they are colossal.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/bedroom-chatsworth.jpg" alt="dress in bedroom at chatsworth" class="wp-image-12538" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/bedroom-chatsworth.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/bedroom-chatsworth-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/bedroom-chatsworth-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/bedroom-chatsworth-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/bedroom-chatsworth-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Curator Allegra Pesenti&nbsp;has been on a two-year treasure hunt around Chatsworth, gathering together floral-inspired artworks and botanical specimens together to create an exhibition that looks at humanity through the lens of flowers and botanics.



‘Individually these things may seem like nothings, but collectively they are important,’ explained Allegra as she guided Muddy on a first look at the exhibition just before it opened up to the public.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/orchid-hat-chatsworth.jpg" alt="philip treacy orchid hat chatsworth" class="wp-image-12530" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/orchid-hat-chatsworth.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/orchid-hat-chatsworth-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/orchid-hat-chatsworth-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/orchid-hat-chatsworth-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/orchid-hat-chatsworth-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Featuring newly commissioned artworks, alongside a Philip Treacy rare orchid hat, herbariums, moss samples and historical art from the Devonshire Collections, the exhibition builds on the history of landscape designers, gardeners, scientists and botanists who, over the past six centuries, have dedicated their work to Chatsworth’s garden and grounds.



So many art exhibitions can be a passive, ponderous experience, but this one speaks to its elegant, historic surroundings and, right from the start in the grandiose Painted Hall there is a sense of coming alive.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="683" height="1024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Painted-Hall-Chatsworth-683x1024.jpg" alt="painted hall chatsworth" class="wp-image-12531" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Painted-Hall-Chatsworth-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Painted-Hall-Chatsworth-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Painted-Hall-Chatsworth-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Painted-Hall-Chatsworth.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure>



It’s a tall order to hang something in this imposing historical hall and make it resonate. But the striking regal figure, sculpted out of terracotta beads and seeds by&nbsp;Chiara Camoni, packs an immediate punch, while the eye-popping colours of Frank Bowling’s vibrant modern ‘scavenger’ paintings manage to vie for attention.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="681" height="1024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Alex-Thrower-with-the-_Lost-Valley-Mirror_-by-David-Wiseman-681x1024.jpg" alt="david wiseman's grotto mirror at the gorgeous nothings chatsworth" class="wp-image-12532" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Alex-Thrower-with-the-_Lost-Valley-Mirror_-by-David-Wiseman-681x1024.jpg 681w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Alex-Thrower-with-the-_Lost-Valley-Mirror_-by-David-Wiseman-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Alex-Thrower-with-the-_Lost-Valley-Mirror_-by-David-Wiseman-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Alex-Thrower-with-the-_Lost-Valley-Mirror_-by-David-Wiseman-1022x1536.jpg 1022w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Alex-Thrower-with-the-_Lost-Valley-Mirror_-by-David-Wiseman-1363x2048.jpg 1363w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Alex-Thrower-with-the-_Lost-Valley-Mirror_-by-David-Wiseman-scaled.jpg 1704w" sizes="(max-width: 681px) 100vw, 681px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">David Wiseman&#8217;s Grotto Mirror</figcaption></figure>



Continue through the house and you’ll come to a mesmerising room where mystical creatures and magical micro mosaics evoke the mystery and wonder of the botanical world. David Wiseman’s sublime Grotto Mirror (with spaces for candles and incense to create a magical smoky haze) is something else. It’s a thing of beauty that’s hard to tear yourself away from, with its intricate detail. Literally mirrored in its glass face is a collection of minute mosaic creatures, like frogs and bees, perched on a log. Tiny works of wonder that echo the mirror.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Tulip-vases-displayed-in-the-Great-Chamber-at-Chatsworth-1024x683.jpg" alt="delft tulip vases at the gorgeous nothings chatsworth" class="wp-image-12533" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Tulip-vases-displayed-in-the-Great-Chamber-at-Chatsworth-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Tulip-vases-displayed-in-the-Great-Chamber-at-Chatsworth-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Tulip-vases-displayed-in-the-Great-Chamber-at-Chatsworth-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/Tulip-vases-displayed-in-the-Great-Chamber-at-Chatsworth.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Know the route around Chatsworth? You’ll see big shifts in the usual collections. All the fossils and scientific specimens have been gathered together, all the still lifes have been collated, all the Dutch Delft flower holders have been brought together as a group. The idea? To create portals of hope and possibility. And its effective. I loved the canotype seaweed specimens and the shells and fossils that have been gathered together.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/chinese-wallpaper-chatsworth.jpg" alt="chinese wallpaper and art at gorgeous nothings chatsworth" class="wp-image-12534" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/chinese-wallpaper-chatsworth.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/chinese-wallpaper-chatsworth-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/chinese-wallpaper-chatsworth-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/chinese-wallpaper-chatsworth-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/chinese-wallpaper-chatsworth-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Some rooms felt more successful than others. Upstairs the canary yellow room within a room juxtaposed next to the pretty aqua Chinese wallpaper, is an arresting backdrop for the oh-so-delicate paper Peacock flowers by Kapwani Kiwanga.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/tulle-dress.jpg" alt=" tulle dress gorgeous nothings chatsworth" class="wp-image-12535" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/tulle-dress.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/tulle-dress-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/tulle-dress-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/tulle-dress-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/tulle-dress-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



In the Great Chamber, a tulle topiary dress (above) stands by the window looking out to the Cascade, mirroring the topiaries in the garden. It’s punctuated at the opposite end of the long corridor with a jaw-dropper of a Gucci gown (below) designed by Alessandro Michele for the Duchess of Devonshire.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/gucci-dress.jpg" alt="gucci dress at the gorgeous nothings chatsworth" class="wp-image-12536" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/gucci-dress.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/gucci-dress-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/gucci-dress-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/gucci-dress-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/gucci-dress-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">The Muddy verdict</h2>



Good for: A mooch round Chatsworth House is always a treat but this beautiful, thoughtful and utterly arresting exhibition elevates the experience no end. If you’re an anthophile (and let’s face it, who doesn’t love flowers?), nature-lover or keen gardener, there’s lots to love and liger over.



Not for: Unlike the Christmas takeovers at Chatsworth, this exhibition will probably leave all but the most enlightened kids cold. Leave them at home (or playing in the farmyard and adventure playground with Dad) and drink this one in in your own time.



<a href="https://www.chatsworth.org/events/gorgeous-nothings/">The Gorgeous Nothings: Flowers at Chatsworth</a> is included with house and garden tickets and runs until 5 October 2025.

Review: The Gorgeous Nothings, Flowers at Chatsworth

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