Category Archives: Archaeology

The Stones of Lecce

Posted on 12/01/2023 by carolinemmurray

I think it is safe to say that 2022 was not a good year for the vast majority of people worldwide. My own issues will definitely sound pathetic by comparison with those of most people, not least the entire population … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, History, Italy | Tagged baroque, churches, Lecce, olive trees, Puglia | 7 Comments

Thomas Spratt, R.N.

Posted on 05/01/2023 by carolinemmurray

I discovered the other day that Thomas Able Brimage Spratt (1811–88) donated seven items of archaeological interest to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1853–4. I knew him as the author of a two-volume Travels and Researches in Crete (1865), which was … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Classics, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Fitzwilliam Museum, Mediterranean archaeology, Royal Navy, Thomas Spratt | 4 Comments

Litter

Posted on 06/01/2021 by carolinemmurray

A couple of months ago, I became a signed-up, official Volunteer Litter-Picker for Cambridge City Council. This came about because I get furious about litter all the time, but had no idea what to do about it in any systematic … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Botany, Cambridge, Natural history | Tagged Cambridge, Detectorists, litter, Microsoft, rubbish | 13 Comments

Plant of the Month: July 2020

Posted on 26/07/2020 by carolinemmurray

The other day, I found myself standing under a Broussonetia tree in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden (so happily now reopened, though you do have to book), and was reminded of my oft-repeated note to self to find out more … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Botany, Exploration, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged barkcloth, botany, Broussonetia, Japan, Pacific islands, paper, paper mulberry | 1 Comment

The Immortal Peacock

Posted on 26/09/2019 by carolinemmurray

I first saw a real live peacock when I was quite young, in Victoria Park in the city where I was brought up. An area of grass and trees very close to the railway station, and therefore – in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Classics, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged Byzantine art, Christian imagery, mosaic, peacock, sarcophagus, Venice | 5 Comments

Anon.

Posted on 07/09/2019 by carolinemmurray

I just made it to ‘Artist: Unknown: Art and Artefacts from the University of Cambridge Museums and Collections’, the current exhibition at Kettle’s Yard. (It continues until 22 September, but the Hedgehog ménage will be away – Venice, since you … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Venice | Tagged anonymous artworks, attribution, copies, forgery, Kettle's Yard | 1 Comment

In Brugge

Posted on 29/08/2019 by carolinemmurray

I begin thus because, as on previous visits, I noticed that the good people of what we tend to call Bruges would rather speak German or English, or indeed Chinese, than utter a word of French. But we were (for … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Biography, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Adornes family, Bruges, Brugge, Jerusalem chapel, pilgrimage | 8 Comments

The Great Belzoni

Posted on 23/07/2019 by carolinemmurray

… is today hung on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum – or, at any rate, a spectacular likeness produced after his death is. I mentioned this fascinating character several times in my previous blogging persona, but his arrival in Cambridge … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Biography, Cambridge, Exploration, History, Italy, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged Archaeology, Egypt, Fitzwilliam Museum, Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Henry Salt, Rameses II, Rameses III, river Nile | Leave a comment

Rome In Three Days

Posted on 30/04/2019 by carolinemmurray

I am sitting in an apartment in Venice with a glorious view which encompasses the towers of San Stefano (looking worrisomely more lop-sided then usual), San Marco, San Francesco della Vigna, and even, in the most extreme distance, the three … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Botany, Classics, Gardens, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Coliseum, Galleria Borghese, Palatine Hill, Rome, St Peter's, traffic | 2 Comments

The Scots Welshman

Posted on 07/11/2018 by carolinemmurray

… or possible the Welsh Scot? John Pryse Campbell, first Baron Cawdor of Castlemartin (1755–1821) was a member of the famous Scots clan, but two marriages in different generations to the daughters of Welsh landowners had brought their huge estates … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Biography, Classics, Gardens, History, Italy, London, Museums and Galleries | Leave a comment