Category Archives: Art

Snaps

Posted on 22/09/2019 by carolinemmurray

Our recent jaunt to Venice and Ravenna provided more than the usual amount of food for thought, so while I ponder further on Titian and Rubens, peacocks, camels, women painters, Francesco Morosini and silence, here are some pictures which I … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Venice | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A Secret Garden

Posted on 15/09/2019 by carolinemmurray

Of course, a great many gardens in Venice are secret – that is, invisible to the normal passer-by in the calle. But the garden of Palazzo Soranzo Cappello is probably the most famous secret garden in the city (with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Gardens, History, Italy, Literature, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, Venice | Tagged , , , , | 3 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 , , , , | 1 Comment

Jewels

Posted on 05/09/2019 by carolinemmurray

Also in Brugge the other day, I was hit by a interesting revelation (assuming, of course, that the statement below, in the Groeninge Museum, is true). The reason Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling and the other so-called Flemish Primitives painted … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

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 , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Popinjays

Posted on 17/07/2019 by carolinemmurray

I didn’t mention that at Niguliste, there is also a collection of silver objects, many of them formerly owned by the various guilds of Tallinn. By far (in my view) the most attractive of these items is a popinjay, made … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Niguliste

Posted on 10/07/2019 by carolinemmurray

Five years ago, and in another life, I wrote about Laulupidu, the Estonian music festival held every five years, and guess what, we’ve just returned from the 2019 celebration in Tallinn – even more significant than normal as it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Plant of the Month: June 2019

Posted on 04/06/2019 by carolinemmurray

This seems to be an amazing spring/summer for roses – even mine are looking good (or were until it just started raining), and they are by no means my most successful plants. And it’s not just locally, either. We’ve just … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Gardens, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Blackbird

Posted on 30/05/2019 by carolinemmurray

Has there ever been a spring/summer like this for blackbird song? (Except, obviously, the year in which, in late June, Edward Thomas’s train stopped unexpectedly at Adlestrop?) I’m especially fortunate in that I have two competing to outdo each other … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Literature, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , | 2 Comments