Walking into the first room of the Botticelli Reimagined exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum and looking around had me slightly worried. Worried that the show was going to be too much pop, fashion or superficial kitsch. I'm just not very enamoured with David LaChapelle's day-glo style or performance artist Orlan.

Then I came face to face with a surprise tucked around the corner : a piece of art that I really loved when I first came across it a year or so ago. This is the Donghi (see below). From here on, things picked up for me. On to room two and a lot of interesting paintings, most from the 19th Century (and many Pre-Raphaelite). Then, room three and we finally come to some real Botticelli work (as well as many "workshop of"). Even Botticelli drawings of Dante, something you can also catch at the Courtauld just now, and something I wrote about recently.

The Donghi painting impressed me a year or so ago when it appeared in a Guardian piece. What a surprise to see it in real life. It still impresses me with its clean lines and colour, although how much influence Venus had on it is probably very debatable. Then again, there were quite a few tenuous links made throughout the exhibition.

On the right: Woman at the Cafe, Antonio Donghi, 1932

Room two had many paintings I liked, including a few Rossetti, Burne-Jones and a large tapestry by William Morris called The Orchard.

On the right: Luna, by Edward Burne-Jones.

Luna is a beautiful and atmospheric painting, one of a series of allegorical female figures Burne-Jones completed in the 1870's. According to a Christies page, this was previously owned by Yves St Laurent (who seems to have had very good taste in art if you glance through the sale catalog).

Below : The Orchard by William Morris and John Henry Dearl. About 1863

The Orchard is a large (wall size) tapestry showing fruit trees ready to harvest and women holding a poem of Morris' own composition. Again, perhaps only peripherally related to Botticelli's Venus, but looking up at this and the others, who cares?

The last room is devoted to work from Botticelli's time, including many from his workshop. Some would have had input from him, but others perhaps not and the quality is variable. There were too many Madonna and Child for instance, and a few were not so good (not true Botticelli, I hasten to add). It does highlight his mastery when we see it though. Unfortunately, no actual Birth of Venus (it never leaves the The Uffizi), but some good pieces.

On the right: Portrait of a Young Man, c.1480-5 by Sandro Botticelli

It's a lovely museum and a really good exhibition. One I'll try to visit again.