Category Archives: History

Enter by the Founder’s

Posted on 26/08/2018 by carolinemmurray

… and exit by the gift shop. You can of course, alternatively, enter via the Courtyard, which takes you through/past the gift shop first, on your way to the café. Cambridge friends will realise that I am taking about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Cambridge, Classics, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries | Tagged architecture, C.R. Cockerell, Cambridge, Dr Victoria Avery, Fitzwilliam Museum, George Basevi, museums, portrait busts | 4 Comments

Object of the Month: August 2018

Posted on 10/08/2018 by carolinemmurray

I was recently trying to find out who in Cambridge (apart from the Polar Museum) has any scrimshaw, and was most intrigued to discover – as well as, naturally, bone and ivory carvings – Jane Scrimshaw, immortalised by John Faber … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bibliography, Biography, Cambridge, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged almshouses, centenarians, Jane Scrimshaw, John Faber, Old Parr | 3 Comments

Plant of the Month: July 2018

Posted on 27/07/2018 by carolinemmurray

I had vaguely hoped that during my recent sojourn in Florida I might see a catalpa in (almost) its native habitat. Its usual southernmost range is further north in the state, but I had plans to visit botanic gardens, until … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged Cambridge University Botanic Garden, catalpa, Mark Catesby, plant of the month | 1 Comment

Object of the Month: July 2018

Posted on 18/07/2018 by carolinemmurray

The Tampa Museum of Art is a high-ceilinged box near the Hillsborough River, its air-conditioning creating blessed coolness. When I visited the other day, it had exhibitions (largely drawn from its permanent collections) including ‘Inspired by Nature: Vases, Birds, & … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Classics, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged ancient tragi-comedy, Gnathian ware, Magna Graecia, Tampa Museum of Art | Leave a comment

(Yet) Another Artist Of Whom I’d Never Heard

Posted on 05/07/2018 by carolinemmurray

Well, had you (assuming, of course, that you are not an expert in eighteenth-century French flower paintings) heard of Gerard van Spaendonck? You will gather from his name that he was not French – he was born in 1746, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Cambridge, France, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged botanical paintings, Cornelis van Spaendonck, Fitzwilliam Museum, flower paintings, Gerard van Spaendonck, Lucy Cust, Redouté | 9 Comments

Object of the Month: June 2018

Posted on 29/06/2018 by carolinemmurray

This fire screen, standing 104 cm (3 ft 5 ins) tall, must in the summer have graced fireplace of a well-to-do eighteenth-century individual, probably in France. When I first noticed it, I thought it was embroidered, perhaps by a daughter … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cambridge, France, History, Literature, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Beauvais, Colbert, David Teniers, fire screen, Fitzwilliam Museum, Louis XIV, tapestry | 1 Comment

The Emperor Diverts Himself At Tennis

Posted on 18/06/2018 by carolinemmurray

One tends not to think of Charles V as a jolly type. Admittedly, it would have been difficult for him to have been as gloomy as his son, and heir to the Spanish Empire, Philip II (‘horrible, and holy’ as … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Charles V, Federico II Gonzaga, Mantua, Palazzo Tè, real tennis, tennis, Titian | 6 Comments

Slow Venice

Posted on 12/06/2018 by carolinemmurray

I’m not sure that I would choose to visit Venice in June again – though I can imagine a few compelling reasons, such as a once-in-a-generation exhibition of all the known Carpaccios in the world (she said hopefully). The main … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Venice | Tagged Architectural Biennale, Caterina Corner, John Ruskin, John Wharlton Bunney, Torcello, Venice | 3 Comments

Mariana Starke

Posted on 27/05/2018 by carolinemmurray

Miss Starke (sometimes given the ‘courtesy’ title of Mrs) had the great good fortune to have relatives who needed nursing in a benign climate abroad. (Less good luck for the relatives, obviously.) As a consequence, instead of staying in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, France, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Uncategorized, Venice | Tagged France, guidebooks, Italy, John Murray, Mariana Starke, Richard Phillips, travel guides | 2 Comments

Object of the Month: May 2018

Posted on 19/05/2018 by carolinemmurray

How many bear jugs does one person need in his or her life? The answer, in the case of Dr J.W.L. Glaisher (about whom I have written before), appears to be at least twelve. This is the number bequeathed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cambridge, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged animal cruelty, Bankside, bear jugs, bear-baiting, ceramics, Fitzwilliam Museum, Shakespeare's London | 1 Comment