Cathy's Art Diary

Excellent exhibition at the British Museum looking at the life and times of the Roman emperor Nero. This show was visually stunning but also told the story clearly and carefully explaining the myths and reality of his reign. There were some wonderful objects mainly set out well to allow social distancing although I’m afraid showing coins doesn’t really work at the moment. There was a bit of queuing to start with but people spread out after the first section. You were greeted by this statue of the young Nero and this was followed by a lovely line up of his ancestors and a good explanation of how he came to power. I am sure I was not the only person of my age relating the statues to the actors in “I, Claudius”. There was a good section on his conquests including Britain with a moving slave chain found in a bog in Wales. I particularly liked a section on his love of theatre with some lovely frescos of actors and theatres which sat with displays on gladiatorial fights including some...

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery on animals and symbolism in Dutch 17th century art. Belle Smith led us through various paintings in the gallery’s collection looking at their symbolism. Although it was billed as being about animals it broadened out into symbolism in general. It was well done in a video presentation with a Q&A after but I’ve gone over this ground quite a lot recently and I didn’t learn much that was new to me. It was nice to visit some old favourites such as this picture by Jan Miense Molenaer along with “Boy and a Girl with an Eel and a Cat” by his wife, Judith Leyster. Both had hidden agendas on peace and war.

Interesting online lecture from the Churches Conservation Trust looking at the development of the Crucifix in English churches in the Middle Ages. John Munns of Magdalene College, Cambridge explained that until the Reformation every parish church in England had a Crucifixion scene usually on a beam or screen in front the chancel arch. There are no complete sets surviving but he discussed the few remaining fragments and compared these to other Crucifixion images to look at how they developed from 1050 to the end of the 13th century. He talked us through the move from showing a triumphant Christ often clothed as a king to a suffering Christ with legs bent and hanging from his arms in a crown of thorns. He explained how the crown of thorns image became more popular after King Louis IX brought it from Constantinople to France. He also looked at how imagery influenced devotion and visa versa. He introduced us to this beautiful fragment from All Saint’s South Cerney, found with a pair...

Interesting sculpture trail on the King William Lawns of the Old Royal Naval College by Josie Spencer. I found these works by chance as I walked around Greenwich. I saw no adverts for them within the Painted Hall, where I had just been, and on explanation of them on site while I was there. I caught the eye of another lady who also looked intrigued but puzzled. I was therefore glad to find more information online later to realise that this was a temporary exhibit and not a new permanent feature. I loved their realistic but fragmented nature and the way they sat in the space looking like damaged classical works. The description mentions their different colours but I must admit I didn’t notice that at the time. I liked the way the one shown here combined a very finished real female figure and the jigsaw like male one. Closes 6 August 2021

Surreal installation in the Painted Hall of the Old Royal Naval College by Luke Jerram. I’ve been wanting to see this work, which has travelled around the country for ages, but it seems to have just left various places I’ve visited so I was pleased to see it was going to be near where I live and it was a good excuse to go and see the recently refurbished Painted Hall. This giant, internally lit, scale replica of the earth hung in the hall and is meant to represent the view of the earth from space. It revolves slowly and there were couches set up which people had sunk onto to watch it mesmerised. It was accompanied by a specially commissioned surround-sound composition by Dan Jones. The effect was beautiful, calming and a dazzling blue contrast to the muted colours of the walls and ceiling. As you looked at the hall itself you kept looking back and being surprised to see it hanging there. It felt like it had been captured in the space. A strange bringing of the whole of the outsid...

Moving online talk from the British Academy looking at a project to study the experiences of war widows which resulted in the making of a quilt. This event took the form of a discussion between various people involved in the project chaired by Sue Pritchard from Royal Museums Greenwich who were the first to show the quilt at the Queen’s House. I live nearby and am so sorry I missed that back in 2019. Nadine Muller from Liverpool John Moores University had initiated the project via an exercise to record the experiences of war widows in oral history interviews as she had found when she came to research the subject that very little had been written about them. During her interviews she realised that some of the women found it difficult to talk and she wondered if some sort of workshop might help them. Lois Blackburn, an artist and co-founder of Arthur-Martha which had worked on similar projects, met Nadine in the village they both lived in and suggested workshops around handcraft a...

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...