Day 2, Apr 29, 2013, Monday:
Disappointment at Westminster abbey
offset by the riot of colors at St James park , melodious performance
at Royal opera house with the finale at British museum.
There are free concerts on most
Mondays at the famous Royal opera house at 1 o'clock –details
available at: www.roh.org.uk/recitals/lunchtime-recitals
Free
Tickets for these lunchtime concerts can be reserved online 9 days
before the concert date. We had tickets for the organ concert that
day
Decided to visit the Westminster Abbey
in the morning. The previous day we had gone on to the Abbey and
attended the famous evensong but we wanted to see the interiors in
more detail.
We reached the abbey at 9.20, 10 minutes before it opens
but found mile long queue at both cash and credit card lines. May be
we should have bought tickets on the web—-but my research had not
indicated this…Time for plan B…
St Margaret's church:
We visited the beautiful St Margaret's
church nearby and admired the stained glass there. St Margaret's church is called the
people's church as it is near the House of Commons.
Horse guards parade:
Then walked toward Westminster
cathedral but lost our way and made it to the horse guards parade..
.Tourists were milling around for the photo op despite the warning re
bite/kick. We took the mandatory pictures and watched the parade—
not really activity we had scheduled for prime time!!
Now we were
under pressure to salvage the rest of the morning… walked towards
Trafalgar square: Nelson column,
Nelson's Column is a monument in
Trafalgar Square built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who
died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. (Napoleonic wars).
The pedestal is decorated with four
bronze relief panels, each 18 feet (5.5 m) square, cast from captured
French guns. They depict the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the Battle of
the Nile, the Battle of Copenhagen and the Death of Nelson at
Trafalgar.
It was refurbished in 2006 at a cost of
£420,000, The whole monument is 169 ft 3 in (51.6 m) tall from
the bottom of the pedestal to the top of Nelson's hat. We captured
better pics on our last day.
 |
Trafalgar square: Nelson column |
St James Park:
Went on walking and landed at St James Park. This turned out to be a lucky
break—their tulip beds is one of the most beautiful flower patches
one can get to see—-so aesthetically planted with a veritable
symphony of colors….such a lovely harmony between the main tulips
and the background flowers in each random patch…
One of the most beautiful flower
patches one can get to see---pics don't do justice to the beauty of
the tulips and the background wallflowers. London had experienced the
coldest April in 65 years--we were stunned to see the riot of colors
and the lovely weather.
had our picnic
lunch there in front of the fountain enjoying the ambience of pet
dogs scurrying by and kids running around.
So glad we enjoyed the stunning tulip beds at St James park… at Kew gardens, we had just taken some pics of a lovely tulip bed when a troop of gardeners descended and rooted out the whole bed and hoed it… probably for planting new seeds for the coming season, all in a span of 10 minutes… we thanked our lucky stars we had not arrived at that spot later.
Royal opera house:
After lunch we retraced our steps and
hopped on a bus headed towards Aldwych, got down at the cutting and
trekked a long way to the royal opera house …the concert was in the
crush room, not in the main auditorium … it was great though.
British Museum:
We considered entering the transport
museum on the way back but decided we’ll make our way to the
British Museum to wind up the day.
The Greek Revival façade facing Great
Russell Street has 44 columns in the Ionic order 45 ft high, based on
those of the temple of Athena Polias at Priene in Asia Minor. The
pediment over the main entrance is decorated by sculptures depicting
The Progress of Civilisation, consisting of fifteen allegorical
figures, installed in 1852.
Physician and naturalist Sir Hans
Sloane (1660–1753) bequeathed his collection to King George II, for
the nation, for the princely sum of £20,000.
We had read up plenty of details from the site: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlights_all_relationships.aspx?Title=Ancient+Egypt&ContentType=World%20Culture&PageId=599
Some of the stories are elaborated here.
We enjoyed the huge statues and totem poles in the great court, wondering not just at the exhibits but the sheer engineering feat of mounting 10 ton pieces up safely for view…
Colossal marble lion from a tomb monument
Greek, about 350-200 BC. From Knidos,
south-west Asia Minor (modern Turkey)
This colossal lion weighs some six
tons. Made from one piece of marble, it was mounted on a
base crowning a funerary monument. The monument was set on a sheer
cliff 200 feet above the sea. The hollow eyes of the lion were
probably originally inset with coloured glass, and the reflection of
light may have been an aid to sailors navigating the notoriously
difficult coast.
Statue of Ramesses II, the 'Younger Memnon'
From the Ramesseum, Thebes, Egypt, 19th
Dynasty, about 1250 BC
One of the largest pieces of Egyptian
sculpture in the British Museum, this statue shows Ramesses II, who
succeeded his father Sethos I in around 1279 BC and ruled Egypt for
67 years. Ramesses was aged 25 when he ascended the throne as the
third king of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
In his 67-year reign he built more
temples and sired more children than any other Egyptian king.
Weighing 7.25 tons, this
fragment of his statue was cut from a single block of two-coloured
granite. He is shown wearing the nemes head-dress surmounted by a
cobra diadem. The sculptor has used a slight variation of normal
conventions to relate his work to the viewer, angling the eyes down
slightly, so that the statue relates more to those looking at it.
It was retrieved from the mortuary
temple of Ramesses at Thebes (the 'Ramesseum'). The hole on the
right of the torso is made by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt at the
end of the eighteenth century, in an unsuccessful attempt to remove
the statue.
Granodiorite seated statue of Amenhotep.
From his mortuary temple, Thebes, Egypt, about 1350 BC
Amun's name defaced. Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC)
commissioned hundreds of sculptures for his mortuary temple on the
west bank of the Nile at Thebes. Statues representing the seated
ruler were probably intended to function as the recipients of
offerings and prayers.
On the sides of the throne of this
sculpture are the intertwined symbols of the plants of Upper and
Lower Egypt, representing the union of the two lands of Egypt, and
illustrating the fact that it is the king who keeps them together.
There is also an inscription on the back pillar, which was defaced
during the religious changes brought about by King Akhenaten,
successor to Amenhotep III. These erasures were subsequently restored
on the return to orthodox beliefs. Parts of several large statues
from Amenhotep III's mortuary temple are now in The British Museum.
Black granite statue of Sekhmet 'She who is powerful'
From Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, around 1360 BC
The Egyptian goddess Sekhmet was
associated with destruction. According to myth, she was the fiery eye
of Re, which he sent against his enemies. In this form she also
appeared as the cobra on the brow of the king, rearing to protect
him. She is represented as a lioness-headed woman, perhaps because
the Egyptians observed that it is the female lion who is the hunter.
King Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC)
revered Sekhmet, as he had an enormous quantity of statues of her
erected in his mortuary temple in Western Thebes. There may have
originally been 730 statues (one seated and one standing for each day
of the year). They might have been part of a ritual intended to
pacify the fiery goddess. Nearly 600 of these statues have now been
accounted for; The British Museum has fragments of over 20, the
largest collection outside Egypt, where a considerable number of the
original group can still be seen in situ.
Here the head of the goddess is
surmounted by a sun disc and she clasps the symbol of life (the ankh)
in one of her hands.
Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II
From
Alexandria, Egypt, 30th Dynasty, around 343 BC.
Re-used as a bath
Nectanebo II (reigned 360-343 BC) was
the last native king of Egypt. His reign was ended by the second
Persian occupation of Egypt, and it is said that he fled to Ethiopia.
This sarcophagus was probably prepared before he left Egypt and
never used. It was found in the Attarin Mosque at Alexandria, which
was formerly a church of St Athanasius. At some time it was clearly
used as a water container, bath, or a tank for ablutions, as shown by
the twelve draining holes drilled around the base (not covered in
this pic).
The decoration on the sarcophagus
consists of a number of sections of the funerary text known as the
Amduat, or 'Book of what is in the Underworld', which shows the sun
god passing through the underworld during the night.
This sarcophagus was collected by the
Napoleonic Expedition to Egypt, and came to the British Museum in
1802 as a result of the Treaty of Alexandria.
Red granite column
From the Temple of Heryshef,
Herakleopolis, Egypt
Originally 12th Dynasty, about
1985-1795 BC
This is one of a number of granite
columns from a Middle Kingdom (2040-1750 BC) temple at Herakleopolis.
The columns were not inscribed when the temple was built and Ramesses
II (1279-1213 BC) later incorporated them into his temple to Heryshef
(Greek Arsaphes). The king added the major vertical inscription and
the scene of himself presenting offerings to the god. His son and
successor, Merenptah (1213-1203 BC), added his own names in the
spaces beneath the offering scenes. The reuse of earlier monuments is
a common feature of the Ramesside era (Nineteenth and Twentieth
Dynasties).
Parthenon Marbles/ Elgin Marbles
The Parthenon Marbles, also known as
the Elgin Marbles is a collection of classical Greek marble
sculptures, inscriptions and architectural members that
originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the
Acropolis of Athens.
Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of
Elgin obtained a controversial permit from the Ottoman authorities to
remove pieces from the Parthenon while serving as the British
ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803. From 1801 to
1812, Elgin's agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures
of the Parthenon, as well as architectural members and sculpture from
the Propylaea and Erechtheum. The Marbles were transported by
sea to Britain. In Britain, the acquisition of the collection was
supported by some, while some critics compared Elgin's actions to
vandalism or looting.
Following a public debate in Parliament
and the subsequent exoneration of Elgin's actions, the marbles were
purchased by the British government in 1816 and placed on display in
the British Museum, where they stand now on view. The debate
continues as to whether the Marbles should remain in the British
Museum or be returned to Athens.
The Parthenon in Athens has a
long and complex history. Built nearly 2,500 years ago as a temple
dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, it was for a thousand years
the church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque, and
finally an archaeological ruin. The building was altered and the
sculptures much damaged over the course of the centuries. The
first major loss occurred around AD 500 when the Parthenon was
converted into a church. When the city was under siege by the
Venetians in 1687, the Parthenon itself was used as a gunpowder
store. A huge explosion blew the roof off and destroyed a large
portion of the remaining sculptures. The building has been a ruin
ever since. Archaeologists worldwide are agreed that the surviving
sculptures could never be re-attached to the structure.
Colossal statue of a winged
human-headed bull from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal:
Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern
Iraq Neo-Assyrian, about 883-859 BC
This is one of a pair of guardian
figures set up in the palace of Ashurnasirpal. Its partner is now
in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. (we've been there too and the blog post will be coming up shortly)
Stone sculptures of mythological
figures were placed as guardians at gateways to palaces and temples
in ancient Mesopotamia. These figures were known to the Assyrians as
lamassu. The figure has five legs, when viewed from the front
it stands firm, while when viewed from the side it appears to be
striding forward to combat evil.
The 'Standard Inscription' is
inscribed between the figure's legs. It records the King's titles,
ancestry and achievements.
These composite creatures combined the
strength of the lion (or in this case, the bull), the swiftness of
birds, and the intelligence of the human head. The helmet with horns
indicates the creature's divinity.
Wall panel from Ashurnasirpal II's palace at Nimrud Assyria (IRAQ).
Winged Assyrian god Nisroch with
an eagle's head and wings. It is also referred to as lamassu, shedu
and "kuribu",
Although Assyrian civilization, centred
in the fertile Tigris valley of northern Iraq, can be traced back to
at least the third millennium BC, some of its most spectacular
remains date to the first millennium BC when Assyria dominated the
Middle East.
The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II
(883-859 BC) established Nimrud as his capital. Many of the principal
rooms and courtyards of his palace were decorated with gypsum slabs
carved in relief with images of the king as high priest and as
victorious hunter and warrior.
Assyria: Lion hunts 645 – 635 BC
Deer hunt
In ancient Assyria, lion-hunting was
the sport of kings, symbolic of the ruling monarch’s duty to
protect his people. The sculpted reliefs illustrate the sporting
exploits of the last great Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal (668-631 BC)
and were created for his palace at Nineveh (in modern-day
northern Iraq). The hunt scenes, full of tension and realism,
rank among the finest achievements of Assyrian Art.
We see the king riding
horse drawn chariot, archers...on foot...galloping horse... movement
captured with several heads, legs...
lion getting stabbed ... again
movement depicted with adjacent arms, faces...
trees and pastoral
scene through which the chariot rides...
wounded lion... it's like slow
motion... each pose captured.
There are free 1/2 hour guided tour by
experts 3 to 4 times a day...spared a little time hearing the expert
though we had read up on all these before hand at the official
site...
Alabaster panel showing the signs of the Last Judgement Medieval, about AD 1420-60,From England
In the Middle Ages it was believed that
the Last Judgement would be preceded by fifteen signs of its coming.
This alabaster panel depicts the tenth sign of the Last Judgement,
which describes how men will emerge from caves where they have
retreated, unable to speak and out of their senses. Other
apocalyptical signs included the rising and falling of the sea,
earthquakes, stars falling from the sky and Heaven and Earth burning.
The thirteenth sign, where all the living shall die, is illustrated
by another alabaster held by The British Museum.
The Rosetta Stone Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, 196 BC
The decree is inscribed on the stone
three times, in hieroglyphic (suitable for a priestly decree),
demotic (the native script used for daily purposes), and Greek
(the language of the administration). At the end of the fourth
century AD, when hieroglyphs had gone out of use, the knowledge of
how to read and write them disappeared. In the early years of the
nineteenth century, some 1400 years later, scholars were able to
use the Greek inscription on this stone as the key to decipher
hieroglyphics.
Wine jar, made in Athens about 540-530
BC.
Athenian black and red figure vases.
Athenian black and red figure vases.
PRE HISTORIC GOLD
Haida totem pole:
The towering Haida totem pole in
the Great Court at the centre of the building.
It stands 39 feet high and was
carved from a single cedar trunk. Made by the native American
Haida people on Queen Charlotte Island in Canada, when acquired for
the Museum in 1903, it was already around fifty years old.
The pole tells the story of the lazy
son-in-law, and is topped off with a representation of the Haida
house chief, holding his club.
The Lazy Son-in-Law Story tells
of an old mother-in-law who chastised her young son-in-law for
being lazy; sleeping in late, not taking care of his tools, not
bringing in enough firewood and above all not catching enough fish
or trapping enough game.
Growing tired of her nagging, the young
son-in-law ventured to a nearby lake. Here, he cut down the tallest
of Red Cedar trees and constructed a large trap and caught the
infamous four-legged, finned Wasgo. After dragging the Seawolf
ashore, he skinned it, and burned its carcass in a great fire.
Adorning the Seawolf skin he swam out to sea. He began to catch large
prey, halibut, seals and sea-lions, and placing them all as
gifts on the steps of the old mother-in-law's house.
Unaware of her son-in-law's doings, the
old woman threw a party in her own honor. Guests arrived and
celebrations were underway when Wasgo came forth from the sea bearing
sea gifts. Mother-in-law fainted and died on the spot, but the
daughter received sea gifts every morning, summer and winter, for the
remainder of her life.
The Mold gold cape
Europe
10,000-800 BC
Workmen quarrying for stone in an
ancient burial mound in 1833 found this stunning gold
object around the fragmentary remains of a skeleton. Strips of
bronze and quantities of amber beads were also recovered, but
only one of the beads ever reached the British Museum.
The cape would have been unsuitable for
everyday wear because it would have severely restricted upper arm
movement. Instead it would have served ceremonial roles, and
may have denoted religious authority.
The cape is one of the finest examples
of prehistoric sheet-gold working and is quite unique in form
and design. It was labouriously beaten out of a single ingot of gold,
then embellished with intense decoration of ribs and bosses to mimic
multiple strings of beads amid folds of cloth.
Saw the walrus ivory Lewis chessmen
The Royal Gold Cup
Paris,
France, about AD 1370-80
This cup is made of solid gold
and lavishly decorated with translucent enamels. The scenes
shown on it relate to the life and miracles of St Agnes.
Agnes was imprisoned in a brothel as
punishment for refusing to marry Procopius,in the time of the Emperor
Constantine (reigned AD 306-337). She subsequently restored Procopius
to life when he was strangled by a demon. Although he was repentant,
Agnes was not spared her fate, and was condemned to burn. However,
the flames had no effect on her, and she had to be killed with a
spear. The cover of the cup is devoted to this section of the
story, with each scene explained by a Latin inscription.
The foot of the cup is decorated
with the symbols of the Evangelists; the interior of the bowl and
cover contain enamels of St Agnes receiving instruction, and God in
Majesty.
The cup was given formally to Charles
VI of France (reigned 1380-1422) on the occasion of his visit to
Tourraine in 1391.
We then made
our way to the after life section… the 5500 year old mummy of
Ginger (apologies, no offence for mentioning that name) was a
startling sight—- how it had been dried, dehydrated and preserved
by the hot sun when buried in the sand.
Finally made our way
to the clocks room.
This is gold and studded with rubies...
Silver and gold...
Loved the elaborate specimens—especially the medieval galleon with such intricate workmanship—- wish they can make the galleon work—it’ll be a delight to hear the band come out and play and the cannons fire at each hour!!
Heard some clocks chime at odd
intervals… seeing many of the clocks tick but the time shown on the
dial being random, we queried the docents… they said as most of the
clocks chime, they have purposely set the times on them to be random
so that the chimes are deferred!! What a sane explanation—- imagine
what a riot it’ll be if all the clocks keep correct time and chime
in unison!! We regretfully left the room when docents began clearing
the museum… one day we’ll love to return and sit in this room for
a couple of hours just to hear all the specimens chime…
This is gold and studded with rubies...
Silver and gold...
Loved the elaborate specimens—especially the medieval galleon with such intricate workmanship—- wish they can make the galleon work—it’ll be a delight to hear the band come out and play and the cannons fire at each hour!!
That was the end of day 2… the day
starting with disappointment but ending on the right note…
Report on our day 3 at Hampton Court Palace is here:
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2017/08/london-trip-report-day-3-hampton-court.html
Report on our day 3 at Hampton Court Palace is here:
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2017/08/london-trip-report-day-3-hampton-court.html
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