Quote of the week

Life isn't about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself'

George Bernard Shaw
If you cannot mould yourself entirely as you would wish, how can you expect other people to be entirely to your liking?
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/wish.html

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Colour in Cambridge



 It is often difficult for me find time to go to art exhibitions these days, so to go to one twice is quite unusual.

I visited ‘Colour, the Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts’, the current show at the Fitzwilliam Museum, when I was on a course in Cambridge some weeks ago.  I was so taken by it that I wanted my husband Nick to enjoy it too.  Accordingly we visited together last week, and I enjoyed it just as much, finding many things that I had not noticed before.

A special exhibition to mark the bicentenary of the museum this year, ‘Colour’ displays some 150 examples of the illuminator’s art from the 9th to 17th centuries.  Modern analytical techniques now make it possible to know more about these works. A section of the exhibition looking into the science of this adds an additional dimension to appreciation of the works on show.  The exhibition also explores the origin of colours, and much can be learned about the authenticity and date of a manuscript by sampling the pigments.

Many interesting stories lie behind the manuscripts, almost all of which are ecclesiastical in origin.  The highly decorated personal Books of Hours of the mediaeval aristocracy were particularly striking, evoking the concerns of the original owners about their souls while they reflected their worldly wealth!

You can get a taste of the exhibition from the Fitzwilliam’s website Here..  However, the show goes on until December and if you can make it to Cambridge this autumn a couple of hours spent looking at these ancient marvels would be time well spent.

Detail from the 'The Pabenham-Clifford Hours' England c. 1315

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