National Gallery, Etc.

 

It's good to be back!  There's a good feeling here of being out and about again, among everyone I think. And I'm feeling more free (of the experiences of the last two years with pandemic fears and restrictions) now that I am here.  At home - especially since I've been teaching remotely throughout the entire two years - I haven't felt a clear delineation between still being in full-on "covid mode" and moving back into normal mode.  (I hope I didn't just jinx myself somehow!).  Just for reference, I was here on Saturday, May 7; I'm now playing catch-up on my blog!

Trafalgar Square, just in front of the National Gallery, was very full today due to a celebration of Eid.

And, as usual, there was whimsy out front as well.

If I didn't restrain myself, this could be my longest post.  I love art history and paintings, and I took pictures of scores of pieces!  I'll start with one of my favorites; it is a painting I came across the first (and only other) time I was here.  It's of a 16th-century nobleman who is about to go on a journey.  Inside his cap is inscribed in Greek, "Alas, I desire too much."  Yeah, I can relate (not material things, but experience, travel, and knowledge).

I love looking through books of art history, but there is just nothing like being face-to-face with the actual paintings where you can really experience the size of them and can even see the brush strokes.  Below is Van Gogh's and then a close-up of it for a look at the brush strokes.

I shared a close up of the next painting in my recent blog about Greenwich because of the time piece pictured here of which there was an actual model in the Greenwich museum on time.  Now I'm showing the whole picture, but then I'll show another "zoom."  Look at the full painting first before scrolling down to the picture below it.

If you look at the painting from the top right you can see more clearly what is in the bottom center of the photo, a memento mori that's been somewhat disguised!

I'm actually going to stop there with paintings instead of including my favorite Rembrandts and da Vincis and Renoirs and Botticellias and more!  But don't think I'm not tempted to share them!

As I left to head towards the Exhibition Road area for more museums I stumbled across - and just about into - some sort of changing of the guard in front of the Horse Guards' Parade.  I went a bit out of my way in order to stop by the front of Westminster Abbey again, because I know there's a little hot dog stand there where I could just get some food really fast for not much money and for no wait time!  I was planning to go to the Natural History Museum and maybe pop briefly into the Victoria and Albert, but I ended up at the underground entrance to the V&A from the tube, so I figured I'd start there.

I was particularly tired and sore this day, so I don't have many pictures from inside the V&A, none worth posting at least, just a few for my own recall later.  I ended up only walking past the Natural History Museum because of how tired I was, but even the outside of the building is gorgeous!

This is basically directly across Kensington Gardens (which I always call "Hyde Park" since they are a seamless whole as far as I can tell) from my hotel.  "Just across Kensington Gardens is still a half-hour walk, but it seemed as easy and short to do that as to get back to a tube station, so, off I went.

Despite my tiredness, I'm glad I decided on the walk.  It took me past the Albert Memorial, which is quite something.  To get a sense of scale look at the people walking past.

This is directly across the street from the Royal Albert Hall, which was cool to see.  It's fun to make connections in my head about locations of places I've heard about for decades but haven't been to.

I found myself on the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk as I made my way across, which, given how much I love Diana made me pretty happy.

Kensington Palace, Diana's London home is in this park.  Here is the gate where so many flowers were laid in memory of her in September 1997.

William and Mary also lived here at one time, and the future Queen Victoria grew up here.

After going back to the hotel and getting dinner and whatever other details I needed to take care of, I decided to take a break that evening and do some reading in this park.  It's basically directly across the street from my hotel, and I hadn't been taking advantage of it.  I stuffed a pillow into a duffle bag I'd brought with me, and I laid down on the grass and read a book on my Kindle.  It was nice and relaxing!  I choose a nice spot kind of between Kensington Palace and the Round Pound in Kensington Gardens.

Westminster Abbey & Lambeth Palace Library Readings

 

This is Day 3 of my adventures, and I've already been inside Westminster Abbey 3 times -- Sunday night for an organ concert, this morning as a tourist, and tonight for Evensong.  I had been to Westminster Abbey on previous visits but was never able to take photos inside.  This time I could, and I went a little crazy.  In all the years I've had a cell phone, I don't think I've taken as many pictures with it total as I took just today! Don't worry, I'll just share a small sample here  The picture above is of the Quire and the one below is of the altar just outside the screen.

I love the quote on the cloth covering the altar, "The tongues of flame are infolded into the crowned knot of fire and the fire and the rose are one."  I specifically remember this from evensong back in 2016 and was happy to see it again.  Behind and to the left of this altar is the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton.

For better or for worse, I can now no longer see this without thinking of the lines Dan Brown penned in The Da Vinci Code: "In London lies a knight a Pope interred / His labor's fruit a Holy wrath incurred / You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb / It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb."  For those of you who have not seen the movie or read the book, can you figure out the answer to the riddle?

Very near Isaac Newton's tomb is that of Stephen Hawking.  There are many other memorials or tombs in this area for other scientists such as William Herschel, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, Paul Dirac, and many, many more!

The picture above and below are of the high altar.

It's good to see C. S. Lewis memorialized in poets corner - along with such luminaries as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, W. H. Auden, G. F. Handel, Keats, Shelley, etc., etc., etc.  The memorial stone for Lewis was placed 50 years after his death. 

I thought I'd put up a "different" picture of the Lady Chapel than just a straight-on picture of the fan-vaulted ceiling.  This is a view from the far east end of the cathedral, looking through the tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, parents of King Henry VIII.

And I'll close out the Westminster portion with a view of the cloisters.

The three hours I spent looking around in Westminster Abbey absolutely flew by, but I am really feeling it tonight!  By the time I finished I had to book it on over to Lambeth Palace Library to make it for my reading slot.  This next bit might actually end up being the highlight of the entire trip!  In my studies of John Napier, I have only been able to locate ONE document written in his own hand.  It is the Secret inventions, profitable and necessary in these days for defence of this island.  In it he describes ideas for war machines for protecting Britain against another Spanish Armada, which was a very real possibility in the 1590s.  His war machines are reminiscent of those of Archimedes and da Vinci: tanks, submarines, burning mirrors, etc.  For some reason that I have not yet been able to discern, this document is in the Anthony Bacon papers, so today I read the 1596 volume from the Bacon collection.  I was supposed to have done so in 2020, but the library shut down due to the pandemic THE DAY BEFORE I was supposed to have read there.  OK, without further ado, here are pictures of the library and the readings.

I do have permission to post the following images, and I want to thank the Lambath Palace Library for that permission.  The shelf mark is MS 658 of the Bacon Papers.  The first four pictures are of the Napier document, but I found everything in here so interesting that I'm going to include pictures of a few other pages as well.  Bacon was a spymaster during the time of Elizabeth I, and some of these letters contain coded writing.  It was astonishing to touch and see the Napier document, but it was equally astonishing to be holding and reading the letters of an Elizabethan spymaster!!

"Anno Domini 1596, 7 of June - Secrett inventiones"

Napier writes of the creation of these weapons for the protection of Britain and says of them "I hope to perform" and signs "John Napier Fear of Merchiston" ("Jo Nepar fear of Marcistam").

I really came in just for the John Napier, but the more deeply I study his life, the more deeply I get pulled into the lives of others of his day, and Anthony Bacon is one of those.  One thing that really caught my eye was the code used in this next letter (8th line from the bottom).  It kind of reminds me of the Babbington Code, but it's not that.

And then there's this letter that is mostly numbers, which seem to me also must be code.

I loved the addresses, openings, and closings of the letters.  Can you imagine addressing the outside of your envelope with "To the Righteous and Worshipfull my Singular good friend Mr. Anthony Bacon Esquire at Essex House?"

Can you imagine ending a letter (or email) with "Your most affectionate to command?"

OK, time to wind up this post, and I'm really of two minds here given my two grand adventures today, so I have two closing pictures.  The first is a picture representing the joy of triumph and features my girl Boudicea whose picture I always take when I'm in town.  The second is also a picture I always take when I am in town, and that is of the blessing on the west wall of Westminster Abbey, and so I conclude with grace and peace for today.

Get Me to the Church on Time

 

As a child growing up in Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Ripon, California, I would sometimes close my eyes during the organ postlude and imagine I was in a cathedral.  Perhaps I was a strange child, but hearing pipe organ played in a cathedral was a dream of mine -- a dream that I never imagined would come true.  Though I have been to London four times now, this childhood memory came back to me as I sat in Westminster Abbey early this evening.  I am not taking it for granted that I get to do this!

I just flew in today and had a full few days preceding this -- final exams, my college's 100th graduation ceremony (Friday), wedding of friends Ben and Katie (Saturday), organ concert at Westminster Abbey (Sunday - oh, that's today!).  I have learned that if one gets a non-stop flight from San Francisco departing at 7:30pm Pacific Standard Time on Saturday and flies into London's Heathrow, and if one also has a reasonably decent understanding of the tube already, that it is possible to check into one's hotel and to get to Westminster Abbey about 10 minutes before the 5:00pm Greenwich Mean Time organ concert on Sunday.  In the picture above I wanted to capture the queue.  Had I been 2 minutes later than I was, I wouldn't have gotten in.  There were at least 30 people behind me who were not let in.  I would have been SO bummed!!

Various views of Westminster Abbey.  (Pictures are not allowed inside.)

After the concert I scoped out the territory - wandered in areas near here (Westminster and Lambeth) that I hadn't really checked out before - made new connections in my mind - stopped in at Waterloo Station to get information about my travels to Richmond and Mortlake tomorrow - got dinner - went grocery shopping - and even took a quick peek into Hyde Park near the Italian Gardens (too dark by that point).  I left home almost exactly 23 hours ago and haven't stopped since, so I'm going to just post pictures of the above with very little more commentary, and then it's off to bed to see if I can get on London time!

Above is the Elizabeth Tower (finally sans scaffolding).

Above and below - the London Eye as seen from Elizabeth Tower Park -

Westminster Bridge above - Lambeth Bridge below - 

Three pictures following are of Lambeth Palace - definitely Tudor!

Hadn't noticed the label "Lollards Tower" before on the door to the old Lambeth Palace Library -

Can't get me enough Tudor!

Looking to the left from the above you leave the Tudor Era for the modern world!

Exterior of Waterloo Station (outside exit 5)

I love the long escalators in the tube!

Dinner tonight was my "go to" - Bolognese, or, as Jacob calls it: "Spag Blog." (No, Rob, I am not interested in food, seriously!).  

On the way back from my attempt to see the Italian Gardens in Hyde park I turned and saw this red double-decker bus -- quintessential London!

Tomorrow the plan is to study mathematician John Dee by visiting the site where his home was and also the nearby site were Queen Elizabeth I's castle at Richmond was.  And if all goes well, Tuesday is Lambeth Palace Library for consulting a document written by mathematician John Napier.  This trip is up and runnin'!