Enjoying retirement
In The Red Rose County
David was unfortunately in hospital so having arrived on my own I had to make my way to Charing Cross. I passed an Abbey in Hammersmith (above) and a Priory as well, and also Peabody Trust and Guinness Trust buildings. Having spent eight hours with David I came the next day and only had a brief visit at first as I had to comply with Visiting Hours. I had noted that the hospital stood on Fulham Palace Road so I investigated whether there was indeed a Fulham Palace and, that being so, I walked the length of Fulham Palace Road to find it. In London wherever you are you can be sure of some great streetscapes...... and I enjoyed looking at the styles of houses in Fulham and the immense care and detail of their Edwardian designers. I followed my nose to the river and had a lovely stroll along its banks to Bishop's Park. where the mature London planes were impressive even in winter. This is exactly where George Best (who was having a short spell at Fulham) would come to play footie with whoever was around when he turned up late for training and was sent away. The park seemed to have every facility including beautiful water gardens. On the other side of the park stood All Saints with its medieval tower. and, opposite the church, I at last entered the walled garden of Fulham Palace.......... In Summer(as shown here) it must be quite a sight. I strode past the garden entrance to the building..... to look at the moat and Gothic gatehouse. The moat that once surrounded the original 14.5 acres of Fulham Palace grounds is considered to be medieval, but various interpretations on its date and function include an Iron Age or early medieval earthwork and a Roman defended enclosure. It was once the longest moat in England, reaching 1.4 km long. It was filled in in the 1920s by Fulham Council at the request of the Bishop of London I came here later in the week with Frances when we had a guided tour mainly of the external architecture and grounds. There is not a lot of inherited furniture and art inside as Bishops' families tended to take it with them on a Bishop's demise. The carvings of some of the Bishops of London were good. This is the Elizabethan courtyard. The small museum shows a little of the history of the Palace, and finds made in the grounds dating from Neolithic times and including Roman and later artefacts. The library was created to display the books belonging to Bishop Porteus (Bishop of London, 1787-1809) after his death. Although his collection is now housed at the Senate House library (University of London) the Palace possesses some very wonderful old volumes, some of which date to the 17th century and some from loans belonging to the family of previous Bishops of London. There is some interesting and quirky artwork.......... Wandering back from the Palace along the Thames Path you see some wonderful flats, houses and - turtles! Harrods Depository is a famous landmark in the Oxford and Cambridge boat race. This is the River Cafe restaurant located in the former Duckhams oil storage facility famed for the number of notable chefs who earned their stripes in the kitchen, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, April Bloomfield, Theo Randall and Jamie Oliver. Building in London, as indeed in Manchester, never stops. This will be a new 'creative hub' for science and research. We liked the brick fronatge of Fulham Football Club.......... and the statue of Johnny Haynes....... When David was home from hospital and working (thank goodness), we took buses to Trafalgar Square, admiring the houses and shops on the way.... St Martin-in-the-Fields stands out in the Square for its neo-classical beauty. We were here to visit The National Gallery. I hadn't been for a long long time and I was staggered by the treasures it contains. Every painting is either famous or certainly to be admired...........whether snow scenes..... the execution of Lady Jane Grey (typically Victorian)..... the Duke of Wellington..... This altarpiece was commissioned in 1285 by a Dominican fraternity, the Company of Laudesi, and although Vasari attributed the panel to Cimabue it is now known to be by Duccio, who is named in the contract. In Frederick Leighton’s imaginative reconstruction Cimabue, wearing white and crowned with a laurel wreath, leads his pupil Giotto by the hand. On the far right Dante, leaning against a wall with his back to the viewer, watches the procession. The mounted figure bringing up the rear is probably King Charles of Anjou. Various other artists make up the rest of the crowd carrying the trestle upon which the altarpiece sits. An imaginative piece for a Yorkshireman! Here two Pisarros...... A self-portrait (Cezanne) Monet's Gare St Lazare. Another Monet 'Beach at Trouville' This time a Renoir 'At The Theatre'. So nice to see crowds of people appreciating what was available...... The rather famous 'Van Gogh's Chair' - we have a print somewhere. Van Gogh - one crab or two. And of course 'Sunflowers'. Here a rather wonderful wheatfield (near to his mental asylum). Seurat's 'Bathers at Asnières' along with preliminary sketches he did on the spot......which is always tremendously interesting. These young children loved hearing about the background to the painting from their teacher...... In Renoir's 'The Umbrellas' you can certainly feel the rain...... Coming from Manchester, this reminded me of two school trips we took on boats round Trafford Docks when Manchester was a real industrial powerhouse still..... Provence as seen by Cezanne...... A wonderful Monet of summer on the Seine.... and..........water lilies of course. I love portraits (its a shame the NPG is closed at the moment - soon to be opened with, one dreads, more politically correct displays). Sir Joshua Reynolds was one of the best portraitists. So too of course was Gainsborough. This is Thomas Gainsborough's portrait of Sarah Siddons, well-known actress. X-rays on the painting have revealed pentimenti around the actress's right hand and nose, where Gainsborough has painted over the work several times in his search for perfection. Popular art legend has it that, frustrated and distracted by his inability to quite capture Mrs Siddons to his liking, Gainsborough threw down his brush and exclaimed, "Confound the nose, there’s no end to it!”. It reminds me of when we were on honeymoon in Blackpool of all places and Frances sat for a silhouette. When finished the artist took another look and respectfully clipped another piece of the end of her nose. He didn't want it to look too big. It was good to see at last Turner's 'Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway' and the iconic 'The Fighting Temeraire' once voted the nation's favourite painting. Gainsborough's 'Mr and Mrs Andrews' the masterpiece of his early career. It has been described as a ‘triple portrait’ – of Robert Andrews, his wife and his land. Here a 'multi-portrait' by Zoffany. Granville Sharp (1735–1813), shown seated at the centre of this lively group, was one of the first British campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He was also a renowned scholar and a talented musician. Here Zoffany commemorates the concerts that Sharp and family members staged on their barge, 'Apollo' (which was moored on the Thames at Fulham) from 1775 to 1783. A room of Canalettos.... the wonders kept on coming. We had a great lunch in the National Gallery's cafe....the food was terrific (unlike the British Library). I only just about captured some of the three dimensionality of the skull in Holbein's 'The Ambassadors' (to be seen from the right). In 'Portrait of a Lady' by Sebastiano del Piombo (round about the 1540's), in the pieces of cloth she holds out is concealed a Latin inscription warning the viewer of the risks of love: 'Sunt Laquei Veneris Cave' ('These are the snares of Venus: beware'). Take heed! Holbein's 'Erasmus'. Erasmus (1466/9 - 1536) was one of the most famous writers of his day and one of the most admired humanist scholars. In this portrait the artist has tried to surround the sitter with items which reflect his interests and profession. A Latin couplet on the book on the back shelf, perhaps by Erasmus himself, praises Holbein's skill: 'I am Johannes (i.e. Hans) Holbein, whom it is easier to denigrate than to emulate.' Erasmus looks careworn and knowing. This elegant young woman is Christina of Denmark, the youngest daughter of King Christian of Denmark. In 1538, King Henry VIII of England was looking for a fourth wife, after the death of Jane Seymour the previous year. As Henry’s official court artist, Holbein was sent to Brussels to capture the 16-year-old Christina’s likeness. It’s recorded that Holbein’s sitting with Christina only lasted from 1 to 4 p.m. on 12 March 1538. This is when he made a series of sketches to use as the basis for the painted portrait. The image apparently pleased Henry so much that he was reported to be ‘in better humour than he ever was, making musicians play on their instruments all day long'. Although their marriage negotiations failed, Henry kept Christina’s portrait until his death in 1547. Here we have a characterful portrait 'Giovanni Agostino della Torre and his Son, Niccolò' by the Sixteenth Century painter Lorenzo Lotto. Giovanni Agostino della Torre was a distinguished doctor and citizen of Bergamo. He had taught at the University of Padua, and the costume he wears is official or academic dress. In 1510 he was elected prior of Bergamo’s College of Physicians, an office he held until his death. The texts on the two square pieces of paper below the inkstand are prescriptions. The paper label on the back cover of the book held by Agostino reads ‘Galienus’, meaning Galen, who was the great medical authority of the ancient world. On one of the pieces of paper in Agostino’s right hand is an inscription that refers to Aesculapius, the physician god of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The portrait is signed and includes a date, which is illegible today but recorded as 1515. The man behind Agostino is Niccolò, who was 33 in 1516 when his father died. It seems that he was added to what was originally conceived only as a portrait of Agostino, perhaps on the occasion of his father’s death. Touching. These joined portraits by Cranach depict two future electors of Saxony, Johann the Steadfast and his son, Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous – Cranach worked as court painter to successive electors from 1505 until his death in 1553. The coats of arms on the back of the right panel help to confirm their identities. Now sated with culture we had a stroll through the drizzle to catch our buses home, passing magnificent buildings like the IOD here..... and this I think is the RAC Club. Along Regent Street we admired Selfridges..... with its usual imaginative windows. Gordon Selfridge would have been proud! The next day on David's recommendation we took buses to Borough Market. Again I couldn't resist snapping from the top deck. Borough Market is fantastic.......but the prices were something else. What Northerner would pay £14 for a loaf of bread? We didn't have time to visit Southwark Cathedral.... as we were on our way to the childhood homes of Frances and Judy in Streatham. Here 36 Drewstead Road......with two very large and healthy olive trees which weren't there in those days. and number 78 again with big trees. What lovely houses. and (another George Best story) this is the gatepost which he leaned on and dislodged the top of (allegedly). Drewstead Road is really nice - full of expensive houses which you would like to own (including big detached ones). And at the end of the road Tooting Bec Common. On the bus back I liked this neo-classical church in Brixton (Brixton not as rough as it is made out........ surely it can't be being gentrified!). I later found out PM John Major got married here. More amazing architecture in cental London from the top deck.
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