Category Archives: Archaeology

Pompeiana

Posted on 02/03/2017 by carolinemmurray

The first edition of Pompeiana by Sir William Gell and J.P. Gandy was published in parts between 1817 and 1819. As is remarked in the preface: ‘Pompeii was begun upon in 1748; and it may at first excite our surprise, … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Classics, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Herculaneum, Pompeii, Roman architecture, Roman art, Roman history, Vesuvius | 1 Comment

Object of the Month: February 2017

Posted on 27/02/2017 by carolinemmurray

Back in my student days, I was much more interested in Greek history, culture and archaeology than I was in that of the Romans. As a consequence that I am almost too embarrassed to admit, although I now spend a … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Classics, History | Tagged frescos, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Roman art, Roman villas, Sorrento | 5 Comments

Object of the Month: January 2017

Posted on 14/01/2017 by carolinemmurray

If ever I were to take up collecting as a serious pastime (as distinct from the random acquisition of books, plants and balls of wool), I think I would go for Italian maiolica pharmacy jars. (The sine qua non, of … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Botany, Cambridge, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Venice | Tagged ceramics, Fitzwilliam Museum, Florence, maiolica, Metropolitan Museum of Art, pharmacy jars, Venice | 14 Comments

Object of the Month: October

Posted on 06/10/2016 by carolinemmurray

I came across this fragment in the online catalogue of the Fitzwilliam Museum while looking for something else. Ha! Corinthian, I thought, in my ignorant way, but it isn’t: it’s sixth-century BCE Clazomenian, as classified (no. 7 in the Tübingen … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Cambridge, Classics, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged gorgons, Greek pottery, mythology, Odysseus, Oedipus, sirens, sphinxes | Leave a comment

Object Of The Month: September

Posted on 23/09/2016 by carolinemmurray

For one reason and another (one being the Christmas craft fair events for charity, which are looming), I am busier with knitting at the moment than usual. Hedgehogs and Christmas puddings are lining up unseasonably early, though I guess I … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Exploration, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Dutch whalers, knitting, Spitsbergen, Svalbard | 3 Comments

Details, Details …

Posted on 05/09/2016 by carolinemmurray

In the Eremitani Museum in Padua the other day, I was struck (as so often) by some of the details in the paintings on display as much as by the overall effect of a particular composition. Take this clog (left), … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, History, Museums and Galleries, Venice | Tagged Accademia, art, Carpaccio, Cima da Conegliano, Hieronymus Bosch, Titian, Venice, Veronese | Leave a comment

Toadstone

Posted on 14/07/2016 by carolinemmurray

This all started when I was looking for frogs in art (another story…). A search engine, clearly unable to tell its Batrachia from its Bufones, came up with the three-legged toad of Liu-Hai, of which, as it happens, there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Cambridge, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged folklore, jewellery, Liu Hai, poison, three-legged toad, toadstone | 1 Comment

Hazelnuts

Posted on 04/07/2016 by carolinemmurray

To the Curtain Theatre at Shoreditch, where we watched the play, Every Man in His Humour, by Mr Ben Jonson, with Mr William Shakespeare among the actors. Well, we almost did, the only minor problem being that we visited the … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, History, Literature, London | Tagged Bankside, Curtain Theatre, Globe Theatre, hazelnuts, Rose Theatre, Shoreditch | 3 Comments

O Venusta Sirmio

Posted on 08/05/2016 by carolinemmurray

… as Catullus remarked on returning thankfully from a period of diplomatic activity in the Middle East. (Nothing changes much after more than two millennia, alas.) I’m not sure when it was that airports began to (re)name themselves after people … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Classics, History, Literature, Natural history | Tagged Catullus, Italy, Lake Garda, Sirmione, sparrows | 2 Comments

St Lubbock And His Pet Wasp

Posted on 03/04/2016 by carolinemmurray

A mostly self-taught polymath who knew everyone there was to known for two-thirds of the nineteenth century, banker, philanthropist, Member of Parliament, archaeologist, anthropologist, entomologist, geologist, best-selling author, slight eccentric (see pet wasp, and teaching poodle to read, below) and … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Biography, History, Natural history | Tagged Archaeology, Avebury, banking, Charles Darwin, entomology, Sir John Lubbock | 2 Comments