art

What did the Kingmaker look like….?

Nov 22, 2022

anniversaries, art, Science

“Tudor” propaganda, facial reconstruction, Henry VI, Look and Learn, Louis XI, Margaret of Anjou, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, royal portraits, Westminster Abbey

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known to posterity as the Kingmaker, was a very prominent figure in the 15th century and featured in one of my very early books. He was born today, 22 November, in 1428. I’ve seen numerous depictions of him, but have just happened upon a drawing (see above) that I…
Richard III meets Philippa and Harry at the Wallace Collection….

Nov 17, 2022

anniversaries, art, films

armour, birthdays, Harry Lloyd, Philippa Langley, photographs, Richard III, statues, The Lost King, The Wallace Collection

We’ve been deluged with reviews and information about The Lost King, and we’re flocking to see it wherever we can. But one thing has always been thin on the ground, and that’s publicity photographs. We’ve had the same few, so finding another (not actually from the film itself) with Philippa Langley and Harry Lloyd looking…
Who crossed the Mont Cenis Alpine pass in 1077….?

Nov 11, 2022

anniversaries, art, travel

Aelfsige, Alps, Archbishops of Canterbury, Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperors, hypothermia, Mons Bardonis, Mont Joux, Mount Cenis, pilgrim routes, Savoy, Via Francigena

Correct me if I’m wrong, but something’s wrong here. I quote: “…The Via Francigena* included two alternative crossings of the Alps, either via Mont Cenis or the pass of Mont Joux (Mons Iovis), and a crossing of the Apennines, usually by the pass known as Mons Bardonis….” I’m with it so far, but then…
Charles the Bold and his hairy throat….

Nov 10, 2022

anniversaries, art, culture

Charles the Bold, facial hair

I know, the title is a little reminiscent of Father Jack’s “hairy hands syndrome”, but this is definitely a hairy throat. Maybe I’m being forgetful here, but I have never before seen a beard that consists of a hairy throat and that’s it, apart from a tiny tuft under the lower lip. But now…
The art that made us

Nov 8, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, culture, humour, religion, Science, television reviews

Aphra Benn, Armada, Arts and Crafts, Barbara Hepworth, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, BBC2, Beowulf, Black Death, Bloomsbury Group, British Empire, Burns, Charles I, Colonel Blimp, Cool Britannia, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, David Threlfall, Death and the Gallant, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth I, embroidery, English Civil War, Festival of Britain, First World War, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Fire of London, Hanif Kureishi, Harry Potter, Hogarth, Industrial Revolution, Jane Austen, Jarrow march, John Foxe, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Joshua Reynolds, Julian of Norwich, kitchen sink drama, Llancarfon, Margery Kempe, Mary Stuart, murals, Norman conquest, Oliver Cromwell, Phillip Larkin, Piers Plowman, poetry, pre-Raphaelites, Reformation, Restoration, Richard II, Roman Britain, Rubens, satire, Second World War, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William Orpen, St. Cadoc’s church, St. Paul’s, stained glass, Stuarts, The art that made us, The Fighting Temeraire, The unknown soldier, Tracey Emin, Trainspotting, Turner, urbanisation, van Dyck, Walter Sickert, Welsh Bible, William Cobbett, William Morgan, William Shakespeare, Wilton Diptych, York Minster

This is another fascinating BBC2 series, illustrating English and British history through the evolution of our art. The eight one-hour episodes, narrated by David Threlfall (Men of the World), feature:The Roman and pre-Roman periods, Beowulf, the Norman conquest and the Bayeux Tapestry; The Black Death, Wilton Diptych, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich,…
Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered one hundred years ago today….

Nov 4, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, art, buildings, religion, Science

Alexandria, Ancient Egypt, apothecaries, Bible, Cairo, crusaders, curses, Earl of Carnarvon, Hodgkin’s Disease, Howard Carter, Moses, mummified remains, Pharoahs, Red Sea, resin, royal tombs, Sphinx, treasure, Tutankhamun

The Pharaoh Tutankhamun seems to have been part of our lives forever, so it’s hard to believe that his tomb was found just hundred years ago on 4th November 1922. Even the discoverer, Howard Carter, had no idea what lay within the tomb, only that it didn’t seem to have been got at by…
Edward IV’s “weird” death is listed…but his pointy shoes are even weirder…!

Oct 21, 2022

anniversaries, art, law

cartoons, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Malmsey, Poulaine shoes, royal deaths

An interesting article which includes George of Clarence and that butt of Malmsley. It also includes a (modernish) illustration of Edward IV that I hadn’t seen. I know I’ve written about pointy shoes before, but boy, those are SOME examples he’s wearing!
The prompt medieval response to the Kos earthquake of 1493….

Oct 18, 2022

anniversaries, art, buildings, Science, travel

Antimahia, Bonsignore Bonsignori, earthquakes, emergency planning, Gerald of Saint Simon, Greece, Italy, Kalimnos, Knights Hospitaller, Kos, Leros, shelters, Siena

“….a spectacular rescue operation. They sent a fleet from the islands of Leros and Kalimnos to transport doctors and surgeons from the order to the island along with a significant provision of medicine and timber for temporary shelters. They also delivered tools to grind flour to counteract the lack of essential foodstuffs during the…
The end of much of historic Westminster Palace…..

Oct 16, 2022

anniversaries, art, buildings, law, religion

1834 fire, architecture, Charles Barry, Old Palace Yard, Palace of Westminster, Pugin, Richard III, tally sticks

The above illustration marks the terrible scene on 16 October 1834 when fire consumed the Palace of Westminster, which had been there, gradually expanding in various styles, since the 11th century. Then, in one night, it was destroyed. The cause, it’s believed, was the careless disposal of tally sticks in a furnace; the result was…
The monster that was half-tortoise….?

Oct 9, 2022

art, religion, travel

Alps, dragons, monsters, Mont Cenis, Rhone, St. Martha, tarasque, tortoise

Well, as you all know well, my ramblings take me to all sorts of corners of the internet. This time I wanted to know about dragons in the Mont Cenis area of the Alps in France. Which is how I came upon the above illustration. I’d seen it before but hadn’t known exactly what it…