Category Archives: Museums and Galleries

Mr Kick and Mr Frankcom

Posted on 16/04/2021 by carolinemmurray

Mary Capel (1630–1715, also spelled Capell), was the daughter of Arthur Capel, first Baron Capel of Hadham, Herts. (1604–49). He was already, by inheritance, a very rich man, but by his marriage in 1627 to Elizabeth Morrison, heiress of Cassiobury, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, The Netherlands | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

St Jerome

Posted on 18/03/2021 by carolinemmurray

One of the Christmas gifts which I most appreciate every year is a diary from the National Gallery, donated by family members who understand that, as senility advances, I really do need to write down what (if anything) I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Cambridge, History, Italy, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Virtual Knowledge

Posted on 12/03/2021 by carolinemmurray

Now that The End may be in sight (touching wood, not counting my chickens, not jinxing it by booking holidays, etc. etc.), I’ve been pondering what, if anything, about life in lockdown I might actually miss. It is of course … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Venice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Lost Museum

Posted on 04/02/2021 by carolinemmurray

I have just come across the Leverian Museum, which sadly was broken up, after about thirty years, in 1806. Sir Ashton Lever, its founder, was born in 1729 at Alkrington Hall, then near, now in, Manchester. His father, Sir James … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Anna Maria Garthwaite

Posted on 04/11/2020 by carolinemmurray

It is a well-known fact that the Spitalfields district of London was, during the eighteenth century, entirely populated by French Huguenot refugees, all busy weaving away in their loft workshops, producing gorgeous silks for worldwide trade, and breeding auriculas and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Lepanto

Posted on 07/10/2020 by carolinemmurray

On 7 October every year, I remind my faithful Twitter followers of the anniversary of the battle of Lepanto in 1571, at which the Ottoman Turkish fleet was comprehensively defeated by the combined forces of the Holy League – the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, History, Italy, Literature, Museums and Galleries, Venice | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Samuel Egerton

Posted on 17/09/2020 by carolinemmurray

We were having a nice mooch round the (startlingly quiet) Ca’ Rezzonico Museum in Venice a few days ago, when I noticed, among the various local grandees immortalised in oil or pastels, a portrait of Samuel Egerton (1711–80). There was … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing, Venice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plant of the Month: August 2020

Posted on 26/08/2020 by carolinemmurray

The name ‘acanthus’ was taken by Linnaeus from the Greek ἄκανθος, used by Aristotle among others to mean a prickly Mediterranean plant (today A. mollis), imitated in the Corinthian columns of Greek architecture; the related ἄκανθα means ‘thistle’. The family … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, Italy, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | 5 Comments

The Unhappy Countess

Posted on 07/08/2020 by carolinemmurray

I was lured into reading about the melodramatic and unhappy life of Mary Eleanor Bowes (1749–1800), by the National Trust, who said, on its website on Gibside, one of her many homes, that she was a botanist. Further investigation revealed … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, Literature, London, Museums and Galleries | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 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 , , , , , , | 1 Comment