Category Archives: Museums and Galleries

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 , , , , | 3 Comments

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 , , , | 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 , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More Cats in Art …

Posted on 16/05/2018 by carolinemmurray

Just a quick couple of additions to the genre after a visit to the Prinsenhof in Delft. In addition to the legendary bullet holes in the wall (embedded after they had passed through the body of William the Silent (alas!) … Continue reading →

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

The Bells, the Bells …

Posted on 10/05/2018 by carolinemmurray

As the website of Save Venice, Inc. tells us: ‘Venetian noble Pietro Gradenigo (1695–1776) commissioned Giovanni Grevembroch, a Venetian artist of German descent, to record Venetian clothing, artworks, occupations, collections, buidlings and daily life through a series of watercolor drawings … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries, Venice | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments