National Portrait Gallery in London

    It is most definitely worth your while to visit this museum of famous Brits in portraits.  The exhibits started out with Martin Luther and the Reformation's influence on England in the 16th century.  Having watched a lot of historical British dramas such as "Wolf Hall" and "Elizabeth R" and performed Britten's opera "Gloriana", I recognized the key players who are portrayed in these rooms from the Tudor time. One was Thomas Cranmer (Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII who secured the divorce of Henry from Catherine of Arragon so Henry could marry Anne Boleyn). Other players included Robert Dudley (Queen Elizabeth I's love interest) and Francis Walsingham (Queen Elizabeth I's private secretary who was on the look out for Catholic spies and encouraged war with Spain and the execution of Queen Mary of Scots). William Cecil was Queen Elizabeth I's Secretary of State and was an advisor on Spain. The explorers Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake were portrayed in addition to Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex, who led an unsuccessful campaign in Ireland and was punished for it. 

There were two portraits of Queen Elizabeth I in the Tudor gallery that stood out.  One is named after the commissioner of the portrait and the other after the owner of the portrait. The Queen's social secretary Henry Lee commissioned her portrait with the image of the queen standing on top of a map of Oxford and England. There were words about forgiveness on the painting. It is thought that Heny Lee felt guilty about not living at the Royal court. He chose to live at home in Ditchley, hence the name of the painting "The Ditchley portrait".  The other named portrait was the "Darnley portrait", named after the owner of the painting. This work was from a live sitting of the queen and later portraits of her were based on this image. Here is that portrait.

Another section of the museum covered the Stuarts' reign in England.  I am less familiar with this part of British history.  James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots, successfully united England, Scotland and Ireland. He married Anne of Denmark.  Here is James I.

James I's eldest son Henry, Prince of Wales died at age 18 of typhoid fever.  He was heir to the throne. His early death was a huge disappointment. There was mention of James I's daughter Elizabeth who briefly ruled in Bohemia with her husband Frederick, a Protestant ruler from Palatine (in Germany). They 

got thrown out of Bohemia and lived in exile in The Hague (Netherlands). It gets pretty complicated who is who. There was a constant battle of dominant religions (Protestantism vs Catholicism). That explained a lot of the changes of power. 

Then come the civil wars and power struggles between the king and parliament. Charles I ruled without parliament for 11 years starting in 1629.  He was executed in 1649. His wife Henrietta Maria was a staunch Catholic. She had a lot of influence over Charles I. She was generally disliked because she was French and Catholic. Below is Charles I.

Oliver Cromwell became "Lord Protector" of England in 1653. He managed to bring about unity in the U.K. He refused to take the crown in 1657. The monarchy was restored after Cromwell when Charles II became King. There was a parliament again. 

James II, brother of Charles II, became king.  His Catholicism scared off some. He fled England when he heard of the imminent invasion of William of Orange, Protestant leader, from the Netherlands. William and his wife Mary ruled England for a while. 

After a while there was a period of "Hanoverian rule" in Britain. King George of Hanover was Protestant. There were several King Georges - II and III. The family line of James II was pushed out of reigning when James II fled England. There was a movement to get that line of the family back on the throne of England. The "Jacobite uprisings" in the 18th century were attempts to regain power of James II's line. They were pro Catholic and against the Protestant Hanoverian rule. The uprisings were not very successful.

I am probably skipping over some important elements in British history during the Stuart's reign.

Once I got to the era of Queen Victoria, I was in more familiar territory. Victoria's reign was long.

I recognized names of key players during this time - her husband Prince Albert and prime minister Lord Melbourne (real name was William Lamb).

Here is Queen Victoria at an old age. She commissioned this piece herself for her art collection. This is a copy of the painting by the artist's pupil Bertha Mueller. The original was by Heinrich Von Angeli. 

Young Prince Albert was portrayed here. This was a commission by Queen Victoria for this gallery.

Lord Melbourne was age 65 in this portrait. He had long stepped down from his position as prime minister under Queen Victoria. 

During the Victorian era there was a lot going on culturally in England. Two famous collaborators, Gilbert and Sullivan, worked on the lyrics and music for numerous operettas. Here they are individually: Mr. Gilbert

and Mr. Sullivan:

Other parts of the museum focus more on living Brits. (The section on Brits of the early 20th century is under renovation now, so after Victoria you skip to present day Britain).

Here is the current Queen Elizabeth II from 1969 by Pietro Annigoni. This was the second portrait he painted of her. The Queen liked his work.

Here is her husband Prince Philip from 1983 by Bryan Organ.

Other famous British actors, singers and others have found their way into this museum.

Dames Maggie Smith (2012) and Judi Dench (2004) are well deserving of a place here.

I had my eye out for a portrait of Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, but it was not on display. He supposedly found his way there too. 

There is a separate room dedicated to a portrait competition with many submissions posted there. I went through this area quickly, but is worth taking a look at contemporary artists' works.

The special exhibit (paid admission) was on sketches of Da Vinci and a few others. I did not have time to explore this.

If you are interested in British history, this is the place for you! Look out for the daily talk (once a day) of the "portrait of the day" by a museum guide. Today was on Bonnie Prince Charles (Charles Edward Stuart). The guide spewed out details of his exploits. I was not real familiar with this part of history.

It is well worth renting an audio guide for 3 GBP. Some of the portraits are featured on it.

Harry Potter Tour in London

We took a Harry Potter tour while in London. Free Tours by Foot is an excellent tour company that provides young professional guides the opportunity to hone their skills. The consumers pay what they want at the end of the tour. It is usually suggested that an individual pays 10 GBP for a tour that lasts around 2 1/2 hours.  These are obviously all walking tours (tours by foot), so you have to have the stamina to walk for a few hours. Tours are reserved by signing up on their web page.  Over the past several years we have participated in a food tour of east London and a street art tour of east London. Both were very interesting. The Harry Potter tour was as well. 

We started the tour off at the Westminster Underground Station. In the movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" Harry and Mr. Weasley pass through this station on the way to Harry's hearing at the Ministry of Magic.  Our tour guide said the tube station was closed for the whole day for the filming. The actual timing of the clip used in the movie was only around 11 seconds.

Next we stopped at the corner of Scotland Place and Great Scotland Yard (the original location of Scotland Yard) to see the place where Harry and Mr. Weasley enter a phone box to descend into the Ministry of Magic. (Also from the "Order of the Phoenix".)  There is no phone box here. It was brought in as a prop.

Trafalgar Square was the next stop. The death eaters started their flight here and flew around Lord Nelson's column on their way to Millenium Bridge. The premier of the "Deathly Hallows" movie took place outside on Trafalgar Square on a big screen. There was a lottery for tickets to this premier.

Cecil Court off of Charing Cross Road provided the inspiration for Diagon Alley. It is a narrow street lined with book shops and antique shops. Harry bought his wand and his owl in Diagon Alley in the "Sorcerer's Stone".  It was on this street that the composer Mozart stayed on an early European tour.

Knockturn Alley, near Diagon Alley, is a very narrow residential street with old door knockers and curved glass windows. The first mention of this street is in the "Chamber of Secrets". It was a street with shops specializing in the darker arts (magic) in the movie. Harry ends up in a shop on Knockturn Alley after mispronouncing "Diagon Alley" where he intended to go. 

On Charing Cross Road there is a sweet shop (above) that sells Harry Potter candy, among other things. In the window you see signs for Bertie Botts and chocolate frogs. Basically it is a retro candy shop. There is also a sign for gobstoppers from the Willy Wonka movie.

We stopped by a theater in the west end where they are performing  the play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", parts 1 and 2. Apparently it is sold out through October 2018.  It has been published as a script. The script was based on an original new story by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. It looks like the story was never published (only the script of the play).

We stopped briefly at the Millenium Bridge where the death eaters flew around. Then we headed to Borough Market where we found the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron pub. A taco restaurant is now there. 

We enjoyed this tour. Warning - there is about 2 1/2 miles to walk, plus a short trip on the tube. We did not dally either. You need to be fit to keep up.

Imperial War Museum in London - WWI exhibit

England is in the midst of a 4 year commemoration of World War 1 that started in 2014. I had been wanting to see this exhibit for a while, but it was very busy every time I was there in the past. Luckily the crowds were not that huge this year.

Here is the outside of the museum.

It took a while to sort out the allegiances in the war.  On the one side you had Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. The Austro - Hungarian Empire consisted of many nationalities. The Germans were recruiting Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) to join their side. 

On the other side you had France, England, Russia and eventually Belgium and the US were drawn in to the fight. The British encouraged friends to join the fighting and be together in the same troop -creating what they called the "Pals Battalions". The French and British recruited soldiers from their colonies in Africa and India.

Russia eventually left the war in 1917 before the war had ended. The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused turmoil within Russia and they had to tend to that.

The U.S. got drawn into the war after it determined it could stay silent no longer. The safety of its ships was being threatened, as seen by the sinking on the U.S. Lusitania in 1915. A German plot to gain Mexico as an ally was not appreciated by the U.S. either.

The development of weapons of war on both sides really struck me.  Fire power was no longer from rifles alone.  The war took to the air and the sea as well as the land.  There were German bomber planes and German zeppelins that bombed east England. German submarines were sinking ships going to and from Britain. Both sides used poisonous gases to drop on troops and civilians. Tanks were used to fight (sometimes not too successfully as they would get stuck in the mud or break down). The British had rifle bombers that shot off grenades and the Fuze 106 - a shell that would instantaneously explode on contact with barbed wire and anything on the ground surface. 

This is a German Big Bertha mortar used in a howitzer.

Shells containing gas.  The German blue cross shell below caused so much sneezing and vomiting that troops had to remove their gas masks and therefore inhale deadly gases.

Of course there was also the new trench warfare used on both sides. Front line trenches were in the line of enemy fire. Behind them were communication trenches used to carry goods and troops to the front line. It was an intricate system of underground tunnels. It was easy to get lost. The British put up signs to label the trenches so they would not lose their way so easily. The names of the trenches were familiar names from home or warnings to the troops. 

Here are examples of trench signs.

Gifts were sent to the British soldiers and the British government from Britain's territories during the war. These gifts ranged from money to goods (sugar, tobacco, wine, fruit, eggs, mutton, butter, bacon and flour). 

British women served valiantly during the war to treat injured soldiers at the front lines. Other women served as typists for the war office, conductors of railways/trams/buses, farm laborers, and bakers/cooks/clerks/drivers for the Navy, RAF and Army. There were many displays about this topic.

It was noted that the Germans were stirring the pot to get other countries to join them. Germany was trying to woo Turkey, Mexico and Ireland. In the case of Ireland, Germany was encouraging the Irish republicans in their fight for independence from England. That Easter Uprising in Dublin in 1916 was put down by British troops. 

After many years of war, Germany was defeated and an armistice was called in 1918. 

This exhibit on WWI is well worth the time to explore. I believe the museum expanded this exhibit for the current commemoration of the war.  Of course it takes a British perspective on many aspects of the war that you don't learn in your American history class.

Museum of London - Medieval area

My exploration of the Museum of London continued this year with the Medieval room. We managed to catch a free tour of the highlights of this room. It was informative. Look for tickets to these free tours at the front desk. The tour topics vary from day to day, hour to hour. 

The medieval room covers the time period of 410 AD through 1558 (when Queen Elizabeth I started her reign). The Romans started to neglect London. The Anglo Saxons from Germany came over and settled in areas west and southeast of London in 410 AD. The area west of London became known as "Lundenwic" and was established in 750 AD. This was near the current Royal Opera House. In this community craft workers set up shop and made objects of metal and bone. Kings from East Saxon ruled here, followed by rulers of the kingdom of Mercia who controlled a large portion of central England.

In 871 AD Anglo Saxon King Alfred came to power. He controlled the area of London inside the Roman city walls, called "Lundenburg". He reigned until 899 AD. He was continually fending off invasions by Danish Vikings. The Danes kept on invading and ruling parts of England until 1042 AD when King Edward the Confessor came along to rule. The area in northeast England where the Danes ruled was called "Danelaw". 

Here is a photo of Danish Viking weapons that were found in the River Thames in the London area.

Edward the Confessor, the next to last Anglo Saxon King, reigned from 1042-1066. He was followed briefly by Harold II (or Harold Godwinson), the true last Anglo Saxon king who reigned from January through October 1066. Norman invasions from France followed and led to the rule of William I (aka my ancestor William the Conqueror). 

Some Normans came to settle in England during the time of William the Conqueror. There was a fair amount of trade going on between France and England. Among the immigrants to England from France were Jewish people. They typically lived west of London.  Several times during the 12th and 13th century London Jewish citizens were attacked by other citizens in London.  One example was in 1189 AD at the time of King Richard I's coronation. He tried to stop the attacks, but was not very effective.

 

The following is a picture of a Jewish sabbath lamp from the 1100s AD. It would have been lit on the eve of the sabbath in a family's home.

Here are some other photos from the medieval room at the museum.

This is an oak retaining wall from 1220 AD to keep the River Thames from spilling its banks in London.

As you can imagine, wooden walls like these had to be replaced often. Only centuries later were they replaced by stone walls.

Pilgrimages were a popular activity in medieval London in the 13th and 14th centuries. A frequent destination was Canterbury, where Thomas Beckett was archibishop and later canonized after his murder.  Pilgrims would bring back souvenirs, such as this ampule filled with holy water tinged with Beckett's blood. Eww! The profile of Beckett's head was on this ampule.

The following is a model of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. There has been a church on this site since the 7th century. It burned down in the fire of 1666. This model shows the Norman style of architecture on the left side (more rounded style) from around 1241 AD and the gothic style of architecture on the right side (more pointed style) from around 1320 AD. 

A video presentation about the Black Death (1346-1353 AD) mentioned that this plague left 40,000 people dead in England.  For those who survived it, the meaning of life was often questioned (or not - as seen by the commentary in the photo below). 

Ever wonder what a gauntlet looks like, from the expression "to throw down the gauntlet" (challenge a person to a duel)? Here is one from the 1550s AD. This armour was often made partly of mercury.

There are very few remains left of a once splendid castle in Surrey, England called "Nonsuch Palace". 

It was built for King Henry VIII in commemoration of his 30th year of reign and the birth of his son, later Edward VI. Construction started in 1538. It was quite elaborate with courtyards and towers and was meant to rival Francis I's castle in France. The palace cost at least 24,000 GBP. The name "Nonsuch" 

was referring to the boast that no such palace could equal it in its magnificence.

Here is a sketch of what it looked like.

Part of a stucco panel of a Roman soldier survived from the southwest tower. It is in this museum.

The palace was incomplete when Henry VIII died in 1547. It was in and out of royal hands after his death. King Edward VI and Queen Mary had it. Then it was sold to nobles. In 1660 it returned to the royal family until 1670 when Charles II gave it to his mistress Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine.  She had a big gambling debt. She sold off the grounds and pulled down the palace, selling bit by bit to pay off her debts. Some parts of the castle were recycled and used in other buildings.  It is a shame that the palace did not survive.

Another highlight in the medieval room is part of a tryptich panel from a chapel in Westminster Abbey. It dates back to around 1500 and shows the annunciation with the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. The panels here are the outer wings. The middle panel is missing.

These are some of the highlights from the medieval room in the Museum of London, close to the Barbican. More blog posts will follow as I make my way through the rest of the museum.

Museum of London in London

This was the first time I had visited this museum and won't be the last. Located now near the Barbican, the museum will eventually expand and move to the old Smithfield market in the year 2021.

Entrance to the museum is free. There are free guided tours of certain areas of the museum. I did not get there early enough to obtain a ticket. You must collect the ticket on site. It is not announced ahead of time online which parts of the museum will be featured on the tour (and each tour covers a different area). You have to find out when you get there. Be prepared to go through a quick security check with a bag scanner as you enter the building.

I started out in the "pre-London" part of the museum, meaning before London was established as a city. If you are really into old tools, weapons and skeletons, this is the place for you. The focus was on settlements that popped up near the Thames River and inland. Remains of an old settlement in "Shepperton" were found with buried skeletons and tools.

A woman's skeletal remains was found buried there.

In the early days people were buried in the river or in earthen pits or mounds. Like other ancient civilizations their possessions were buried with them. This photo shows pots and tools that accompanied them.

Sacrifices were made to the supernatural after death by way of giving up a person's possessions at death.

Here are some old cremation vessels.

There was mention of Queen Boudica's revolt around 60 AD. I was not familiar with it. Boudica was queen of a British Celtic tribe. She and her sisters were promised that they would jointly be in charge of the kingdom along with the Roman emperor when their father died. That did not happen. The Romans took over. The queen lead a revolt and destroyed many of the Roman settlements in Britain, including Londinium (London). The Romans eventually caught up with the queen and her troops and defeated them. The queen either killed herself or died of illness. They are not sure.

Around that same time (60 AD) a settlement developed along the Thames. This was London. The picture below shows development on both sides of the river with the north bank (on the left) being more developed than the south (on the right).

A fire around 60 AD destroyed that settlement. A second settlement there followed. Here is a picture of London from around 120 AD. Notice more development here on both sides of the river.

The north bank is on the right. Note the bridge connecting the banks. It was wooden and built near the present day London Bridge. Warehouses were built on both banks. Trading with other countries was expanding. The British exported oysters, hunting dogs, lead, wool clothes and slaves to Rome. In return they received the skills and services of Romans who came there. One trade route took advantage of the Rhine River waterway. The sea route around France and Spain could be dangerous due to poor weather. 

In one of the rooms there was a video playing about the buried remains of a Roman amphitheater in London. The remains are in the basement of the Guildhall Art Gallery and you can go see them for free.

All sorts of barbaric "entertainment" happened there.

On the north bank of London (and inland) a civic center was built around 70 AD. A "forum" was built that contained markets, shops and offices. A "basilica" or town hall was built. London was getting organized.

Roman bath houses (both public and private) existed on the north and south banks. A private one at Billingsgate can still be visited. There are tours. 

A fort was built around 90 AD. It housed the governor's guard and 1,000 soldiers (civil servants). The fort was built into a Roman wall that encircled the city of London. There were gates and towers in the wall. From the Museum of London you can see part of the western wall of the fort out the window.

The fort stayed active until around 120 AD. This is what is left of it.

For a while Britain separated from the Roman Empire and was part of the independent Gallic Empire from 259-74 AD. Other territories in that empire were Germania, Gaul and Hispania. After that period the Romans came back. I must confess that I am not very knowledgeable about early British history, so I must read up on it.

An interesting part of the Roman period of Britain's history is depicted in a section on daily life. A poster about food caught my attention.

The floors of homes during this time were often mosaics. Here is a dining room from around 300 AD.

Their heating system in homes was ingenious. The floors were raised. Hot air was blown underneath the floor and came up the walls through tubes. The hot air was released into the room that way.

A new wall was built around London between 240-360 AD. More towers were built. Sculptured stones were often "recycled" and used in construction of this new wall. An example is a sculpture of 4 Mother goddesses that was re-used as building material for the wall near Blackfriars.

As you can imagine there were many religious influences in London throughout its early history. Roman gods of course come to mind. Traveling soldiers and merchants brought with them the mystic gods of Asia and Egypt. Christianity became "official" around 312 AD.

Once again Britain broke ties with the Roman Empire from 286-96 AD. They wanted more independence, less oppression etc. (Some say it sounds like an ancient Brexit!) The Romans forcefully came back and destroyed many public buildings as punishment for this rebellion. 

It is about this time in Britain's history that I quit. I was saturated with too many facts. Next up for me are the medieval, Victorian and "modern" sections of the museum. Plan to spend several days here if you want to see most of the museum. It is time well spent.

There is another branch of this museum called the Museum of the Docklands (in London). It deals with the maritime history of London. I did not make it there. I imagine it is very good.