Thomas Becket: Murder and Making of a Saint

Stunning exhibition at the British Museum on the life and afterlife of Thomas Becket.

I studied Becket both at A Level and at university so I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. From walking in to see an old friend, the early Limoges casket showing the murder from the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was gripped.

The show told the story well using fantastic objects and led you through his life, the murder, the political aftermath, his sainthood and miracles, and how Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site.

It is hard to pick out the best objects as so many were wonderful. I loved that they had early copies of some of the five eyewitness accounts of the murder which made you fell you were almost touching the event. I liked the manuscript on his time in exile which was almost like a comic strip. How wonderful to get a 13th century font from Sweden which shows how far and how quickly the news that Henry II had integrated the murder spread.

I think my favourite objects were the stained-glass windows from the tomb chapel in Canterbury shown here which outline the miracle stories. I’d listened to a fascinating talk on them a couple of weeks ago and they didn’t disappoint. It is so good to have these at eye level so you can see all the details and how clearly and cleverly they tell their stories.

An excellent show which I shall certainly visit again to relish all the details.

Closes 27 August 2021

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