The Grand Tour : an evening at the Wallace Collection

A delightful evening opening at the Wallace Collection taking the form of following the Grand Tour round Europe.

You began with a glass of wine which you could take round the gallery with you while you dropped into various talks on aspects of the collection themed to match the night. My friend and I did the French section, which looked particularly at objects such as a Rocco chest of drawers and some Sevres porcelain, and the Italian section, looking at Canaletto and how you might spend your time in Venice on the Grand Tour. We missed the Dutch talk as by then we were musing on life!

There were also unstructured activities such as a wine tasting, creating a postcard or a masque and period make up. I loved the period make up section as it basically amounted to face painting for adults and as the evening wore on more and more people emerged with glittery masques drawn on their faces!

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