This is Mr Darke sees the Light by Stephen Angel. It cost £945 when I saw it in a gallery in Bath in the 1980s, making it one of the most expensive pictures I have bought, so it’s lucky I like it.
A comment yesterday drawing attention to the exoticism of the coats of arms of many African countries reminds me of an esoteric volume held by The College Of Arms.
I went to Buckingham Palace yesterday to watch the centennial RAF flypast and thought I’d do something I’ve never done – watch the Royal Family making a balcony appearance.
It was only towards the end of June that I wrote about Frank Gardner’s memoir, Blood & Sand. I may have omitted to mention that I was given three of Frank Gardner’s books for my birthday this year.
On Friday morning I left home at 7.15, exactly the time I used to leave to trudge into my office. I had a much more enticing destination: the Ancient World Breakfast Club.
The Serpentine Gallery pavilion is still under construction but this summer it will be dwarfed by a giant, red, floating mastaba across the road on the Serpentine in Hyde Park.
The re-building of Dresden is almost complete but, as in any city, there is a continuum of regeneration. A bridge over the Elbe is closed to traffic for reconstruction and some bomb sites have not been rebuilt.