Category Archives: History

Object(s) Of The Month: March

Posted on 14/03/2016 by carolinemmurray

Some of the most ancient artefacts which have survived to grace our modern museums were carved from bone or ivory: hardwearing substances, which survive almost anything except a severe conflagration or a deliberate act of grinding them to shards or … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Cambridge, Exploration, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Ceramic Bestiary

Posted on 06/03/2016 by carolinemmurray

Lisbon claims to be the oldest city in the world, on the basis that it was thriving long before Athens, Rome etc. It also claims to have been founded by Odysseus on his way back from Troy: the name used … Continue reading →

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

Object of the Month: February

Posted on 28/02/2016 by carolinemmurray

I urge you to visit the small but perfectly formed exhibition currently in the Shiba Room of the Fitzwilliam Museum, which contains flower paintings from the wonderful collection of Henry Rogers Broughton (1900-73), 2nd Baron Fairhaven, whose bequest to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Unlit Candles

Posted on 24/02/2016 by carolinemmurray

What I know about the Tractarian controversy of the nineteenth century could be written on the head of a very tiny pin and is mostly drawn from the fiction of Antony Trollope (though I have no reason to believe he’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Classics, History, London, Music | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Akragas

Posted on 12/02/2016 by carolinemmurray

So, there we were on Monday morning at Palermo train and bus station, clutching our remaining possessions to us, not sure what else the robbers might home in on – the clothes off our backs, perhaps? Or was the university … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Botany, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Orto Botanico

Posted on 08/02/2016 by carolinemmurray

The things I most disliked about Sicily were (a) being robbed; (b) the number of wild birds (especially goldfinches) hung up in tiny cages. On the plus side, there were plenty of things to like, including the Botanic Garden at … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Gardens, History, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Cost of Sunshine

Posted on 05/02/2016 by carolinemmurray

‘Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the evening?’ My recent encounters with the criminal fraternity of Palermo were pretty trivial by comparison with the assassination of a President of the United States, but they really brought home to me … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Museums and Galleries | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Sicilian Vespers

Posted on 30/01/2016 by carolinemmurray

Medieval European history is one of those subjects, I think, which can be approached only when one is still very young. All those Ottos and Heinrichs, Guelphs and Ghibellines (Welfen und Wibellingen), Hohenstaufens and Wittelsbachs, Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick II … Continue reading →

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Object of the Month: January

Posted on 26/01/2016 by carolinemmurray

Among the most popular objects on display at the Museum of Cambridge (aka the Folk Museum) are two blue glass balls, known as witch balls. I do like a nice bit of glass, and these two attractive blue globes are … Continue reading →

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The Computus

Posted on 18/01/2016 by carolinemmurray

The recent Anglican conference at Lambeth led to some controversial decisions, of which the most surprising, perhaps, was an agreement to work with other churches worldwide to fix the date of Easter. It was almost as surprising that the initiative … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Classics, History, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , | 5 Comments