art
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Having for the past few days been concerned with the course (in the 14th century) of the old Walbrook, one of London’s “lost” rivers, I was pleased to come upon this article which indicates that the lost river is being acknowledged once again. Well, naturally, it hasn’t been mislaid at all, but was covered over…
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Following the success of the Easter Lego event in 2018, when the most famous portrait of King Richard III, the National Portrait Gallery one, was recreated using Lego bricks, Fairy Bricks were back in Leicester this Easter to build another Richard III-themed mosaic at the Richard III Visitor Centre. This year members of the public…
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While searching for what could be accurate likenesses of a number of lords, I came upon the above illustration, which I had never seen before. It is not helpful for actual likenesses of the folk concerned, but is interesting for all that. It is an engraving of the brass that once marked the tomb of…
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Edward IV’S Hatpin? A fabulous archaeological find has turned up in a Lincolnshire fields–a beautiful golden hatpin shaped like the Sun in Splendour and bearing an intact amethyst stone. An extremely high status object without a doubt and estimated at £15,000. But whose was it? Unfortunately the article accompanying the find is full of…
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We all know the amazing reconstruction of the head of Richard III, and the confirmation it gave of how he really had looked. Forget Shakespeare’s Richard III, the real man had been young, good-looking and altogether normal, except for scoliosis that affected his spine. But when he was dressed, it wouldn’t have shown, especially in…
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We all know that when medieval nobles moved between their properties, they often/usually took their luxury items with them, such as tapestries. These were then hung anew in whichever house/castle the lord had gone to. It had never occurred to me how much trouble this must have caused for those in charge of things…
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Yes, 17th century, in spite of this headline elsewhere, it is this to which I am drawing your attention. The headline says the ring is 15th-century, which I suppose it might be, if it was 200 years old when it was lost, but examination seems to confirm that it is 250 years old, and therefore of…
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The above scene is one of my favourites. Modern, but a wonderful take on a medieval feast. The details are exquisite—think Bruegel—and very funny, although juggling with chicks is probably not to modern taste. I don’t know where it comes from.
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While composing the article entitled Wonderful wall paintings under the whitewash. . . I could not help but notice the reference to a mythical bull-like creature called the Bonnacon. It isn’t one of the beasts that we usual come across, such as gryphons, the phoenix, dragons and so on, but once you learn of its…
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