History
Had a cultural Saturday and visited the British Museum in Bloomsbury. I'd never been before despite living close to it for most of my life. I suppose if you live close to places you're less inclined to visit as a tourist. I grew up on the Isle of Wight, but didn't visit Osborne House until my mid 20s.
The scale of the British Museum is daunting. More than one person could take in through an afternoon. A whole day wouldn't do it justice, so I'd suggest planning which bits you want to see before hand rather better than I did. The BBC's Egypt series inspired me to go so I looked round the Egyptian galleries first. The first thing you see is The Rosetta Stone. The stone was carved in 196BC and is written in three scripts, hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek. Its discovery led to Jean-François Champollion deciphering hieroglyph in 1822. That's Ramesses II on the left there, one of numerous Egyptian monuments on display, all hugely impressive. There is of course some debate over whether it is right that so many Egyptian (and Greek) artefacts live in London rather than their native lands, and I could not shake the feeling that the whole museum was a rather ostentatious display of the overwhelming power of the British Empire in times past. But one of the first things I learned when studying Classics is not to judge past actions with a contemporary mind and so I just quietly thanked the less enlightened past for giving me the chance to see so much treasure from around the globe in one place.
I looked at the Greek and Roman rooms next. I think mosaics are beautiful. Not practical in a first floor flat, but beautiful nevertheless. I believe that both of these mosaics were found in Britain. The top one is clearly religious containing as it does the chi-ro symbol. Did you know that many were pre-fabricated? The craftsmen would assemble the parts in their own 'studio' and glue the tiles them onto hessian. Then it would be rolled up, taken to their new location, unrolled and then grouted down. I couldn't get any decent pictures of the ancient jewellery, but the intricacy of some of the gold working is astonishing.
I finally looked round the rooms containing ancient British history. This helmet is Anglo Saxon and was discovered at Sutton Hoo. A huge amount of material from Anglo Saxon Britain exists. It's easy to think of Britain as backwards compared to the Greeks for example and though we didn't have a great culture at that time the quality of many of the artefacts from Sutton Hoo and elsewhere indicate that we should be a little prouder of our collective history.
The scale of the British Museum is daunting. More than one person could take in through an afternoon. A whole day wouldn't do it justice, so I'd suggest planning which bits you want to see before hand rather better than I did. The BBC's Egypt series inspired me to go so I looked round the Egyptian galleries first. The first thing you see is The Rosetta Stone. The stone was carved in 196BC and is written in three scripts, hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek. Its discovery led to Jean-François Champollion deciphering hieroglyph in 1822. That's Ramesses II on the left there, one of numerous Egyptian monuments on display, all hugely impressive. There is of course some debate over whether it is right that so many Egyptian (and Greek) artefacts live in London rather than their native lands, and I could not shake the feeling that the whole museum was a rather ostentatious display of the overwhelming power of the British Empire in times past. But one of the first things I learned when studying Classics is not to judge past actions with a contemporary mind and so I just quietly thanked the less enlightened past for giving me the chance to see so much treasure from around the globe in one place.
I looked at the Greek and Roman rooms next. I think mosaics are beautiful. Not practical in a first floor flat, but beautiful nevertheless. I believe that both of these mosaics were found in Britain. The top one is clearly religious containing as it does the chi-ro symbol. Did you know that many were pre-fabricated? The craftsmen would assemble the parts in their own 'studio' and glue the tiles them onto hessian. Then it would be rolled up, taken to their new location, unrolled and then grouted down. I couldn't get any decent pictures of the ancient jewellery, but the intricacy of some of the gold working is astonishing.
I finally looked round the rooms containing ancient British history. This helmet is Anglo Saxon and was discovered at Sutton Hoo. A huge amount of material from Anglo Saxon Britain exists. It's easy to think of Britain as backwards compared to the Greeks for example and though we didn't have a great culture at that time the quality of many of the artefacts from Sutton Hoo and elsewhere indicate that we should be a little prouder of our collective history.
posted by phylos @ 13:41
4 Comments:
I had the same problem when I lived in London. so much to see so much time, so why rush.....? I did make it to the British Museum and remarked at the time that it deserved the tag line "things we stole on our holidays"
As somewhat of a hethen when it comes to world coulture I was amazed at some of the things to see. The Rosetta stone is truly breathtaking to be in the presence of. the Egyptian Mummies made me feel very uneasy indeed!
My favourit exhibit however had to be the Easter Island Figure, I always imagined them as being somewhat bigger but I guess Customs had a weight limit even back then.
Anyways, I'm off to find something coultural to look at in Glasgow...... Any suggestions?
Lordy I missed the Easter Island chap. I’ll have to go back soon.
There’s a gallery in Glasgow that has quite a few of Dali’s later works, beyond that I couldn’t say. Hope to get up there in the new year to help you explore!
For Lill (Sorry, Phylos!): Glasgow has some wonderful artwork relating to the movement started by Charles Rennie Macintosh and Margaret McDonald Macintosh (they influenced Klimt and are the inspiration of the Arts & Crafts Movement, which eventually lead to Art Nouveau) at the Hunterian Museum, University Street(University of Glasgow). Also, don't miss the Glasgow School of Art (which offers a free tour). The Burrell Museum contains fantastic tapestries (the colors and patterns in them are stunning), and a very nice collection of antiquities from all periods. Kelvingrove Museum is great, but closed at the moment. Instead try the McLellan Galleries, which housed a lot of the Macintosh collection while I was there last time. (Not to mention it's within short walking distance of the Glasgow School of Art and the famous Willow Tea Rooms.)
Glad you made it to the British museum, Phylos...it looks like you had a nice time! I've never been. Scotland and Ireland I've visited many times, but never had the chance to go to England. It's on my hopeful list, someday. I've heard that the British Museum has amazing collections, notwithstanding the shady collecting techniques. Did they have a nice showing of Sumerian Cylinder Seals? When I was at the Louvre in Paris they had an amazing collection, so I'm assuming the British museum does, as well. One of my favorite exibits(that I'm told also exists at your museum) was the Assyrian Winged Guardians. I studied them in Art History beforehand, but it really didn't prepare you for the real thing. I was taken aback at how large they were. (Really makes one want to have seen the Ishtar Gate, which was incredibly beautiful in its time according to reconstructions) Anyway, nice blog and pics. Sorry I haven't responded on site to some of your comments, which I really appreciate. I am swamped right now (it's 5 in the morning and I'm doing homework...)and won't have more free time until next week to play online. As you can see by my lazy technique of posting favorite poems, I've been doing minimum blogwork.
I'm glad you went with the full article in your last post, by the way. I don't advocate it, either, but sometimes it just needs to be done...especially when the information is well put together and important. You know, I was checking copyright laws recently, and I wonder whether I am walking the line on that one. They say in one site that legally one can't post a full article without permission from the author. Is that true, to your knowledge? I try to post as much info. as possible relating to original publication, author, and any available links...but in between my posts and reading this copyright info. I'm wondering. Hmmm...ah, well. I'm glad I have a nice family. If they throw me in jail I can definitely expect bail. So if my blog disappears for a while, you know where I'll be. In jail? Dead? Alive? Tortured in another country? You pick.
I didn't see any Sumerian Cylinder Seals, but as I say the place is huge - i'll be revisting in the new year with more of an agenda so will look then. Have a scoot round their website, it's quite good.
I believe that what you have found about requiring written permission is true. I think it hugely unlikely though, that any legal action would be taken against a blogger being read by, at most a couple of hundred people a week. If I were to publish the articles in a book and start making money then there may be action, but otherwise publish and be damned!!
Good luck with all your work - I really like the piece you've posted.
Post a Comment
<< Home