Category: Sculpture

Tosca

It’s not easy to date the opera house in Rome because it has twice been altered. Most recently the facade (not my greatest picture) was re-done in 1958. Prior to that, in the 1920s, there was a substantial make-over.

The Master of the Rolls

If there is a consistent thread that binds the complex tapestry of English history it is inconsistency. Forty years ago we were agog to join Europe … now? But I want to look back to the 13th century.

Concrete

If you have been stuck in traffic driving into London from the M4 you may have noticed this sculpture jammed, like you, between the dual carriageway and a yew hedge. It sits on a brick plinth, untitled and with no indication of who was responsible for this piece of civic art.

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Categorised as Sculpture

Dukes & Dogs

There are twenty-nine non royal extant dukedoms in the Peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Duke of Norfolk, 1483, is the oldest and The Duke of Fife, 1900, the newest creation.

Two Bronzes

If you drive into London from the west it is hard to miss the Hogarth roundabout with its distinctive narrow, one-way flyover. It gets its name from painter and engraver William Hogarth whose house is hard by. It tends to get overlooked because of the proximity of the more spectacular Chiswick House.

A Fanfare for Europe

In January 1973 Denmark, Ireland and the UK joined the European Union, joining Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The UK electorate were as divided then as they are now, although a largely north European trading bloc doesn’t seem too scary considering what it has now become.

No Darkness but Ignorance

The Statues of London is a large, heavy and expensive coffee table book. It was recommended by a reader and in spite of its drawbacks I’m pleased to own the tome.

An Abbey

Still in Dorset we went on a church crawl today kicking off with Milton Abbey. It is beside what is now Milton Abbey School. 

A Postcard from Cheltenham

No, no, no I’m not in Cheltenham but I got this postcard sent from there. To slip in a quick digression, Gustav Holst was born there in 1874. Fancy that. I’d thought he was German and indeed on his father’s side he is a Latvian, Swedish, German mongrel.

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Categorised as Sculpture