1.
Victoria and Albert Museum
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The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the worlds largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and these include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Royal Albert Hall. The museum is a public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media. Like other national British museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001, the V&A covers 12.5 acres and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum owns the worlds largest collection of sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea, the East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world. Overall, it is one of the largest museums in the world, New 17th- and 18th-century European galleries were opened on 9 December 2015. These restored the original Aston Webb interiors and host the European collections 1600–1815, at this stage the collections covered both applied art and science. Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection, by February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site and it was renamed South Kensington Museum. In 1855 the German architect Gottfried Semper, at the request of Cole, produced a design for the museum, but it was rejected by the Board of Trade as too expensive. The site was occupied by Brompton Park House, this was extended including the first refreshment rooms opened in 1857, the official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857. In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting, in these early years the practical use of the collection was very much emphasised as opposed to that of High Art at the National Gallery and scholarship at the British Museum. George Wallis, the first Keeper of Fine Art Collection, passionately promoted the idea of art education through the museum collections. From the 1860s to the 1880s the scientific collections had been moved from the museum site to various improvised galleries to the west of Exhibition Road. In 1893 the Science Museum had effectively come into existence when a director was appointed. The laying of the stone of the Aston Webb building on 17 May 1899 was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria. It was during this ceremony that the change of name from the South Kensington Museum to the Victoria, the exhibition which the museum organised to celebrate the centennial of the 1899 renaming, A Grand Design, first toured in North America from 1997, returning to London in 1999
2.
Versailles, Yvelines
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According to the 2008 census, the population of the city is 88,641 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. A new town, founded by the will of King Louis XIV, it was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of city, it became the préfecture of Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War and this word formation is similar to Latin seminare which gave French semailles. From May 1682, when Louis XIV moved the court and government permanently to Versailles, until his death in September 1715, during the various periods when government affairs were conducted from Versailles, Paris remained the official capital of France. Versailles was made the préfecture of the Seine-et-Oise département at its inception in March 1790, Versailles was made the préfecture of the Yvelines département, the largest chunk of the former Seine-et-Oise. At the 2006 census the Yvelines had 1,395,804 inhabitants, Versailles is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese which was created in 1790. The diocese of Versailles is subordinate to the archdiocese of Paris, in 1975, Versailles was made the seat of a Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers the western suburbs of Paris. Since 1972, Versailles has been the seat of one of Frances 30 nationwide académies of the Ministry of National Education. Versailles is also an important node for the French army, a tradition going back to the monarchy with, for instance, the palace of Versailles is in the out-skirts of the city. Versailles is located 17.1 km west-southwest from the centre of Paris, the city of Versailles has an area of 26.18 km2, which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1989, Versailles had a density of 3, 344/km2, whereas Paris had a density of 20. Born out of the will of a king, the city has a rational and symmetrical grid of streets, by the standards of the 18th century, Versailles was a very modern European city. Versailles was used as a model for the building of Washington, the name of Versailles appears for the first time in a medieval document dated 1038. In the end of the 11th century, the village curled around a medieval castle, the 14th century brought the Black Death and the Hundred Years War, and with it death and destruction. At the end of the Hundred Years War in the 15th century, in 1561, Martial de Loménie, secretary of state for finances under King Charles IX, became lord of Versailles. He obtained permission to four annual fairs and a weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles was 500 inhabitants, Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomews Day massacre
3.
Academy
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Academy is a type of secondary or tertiary education institutions. The word comes from the Academy in ancient Greece, which derives from the Athenian hero, outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning. The sacred space, dedicated to the goddess of wisdom, Athena, had formerly been an olive grove, in these gardens, the philosopher Plato conversed with followers. Plato developed his sessions into a method of teaching philosophy and in 387 BC, by extension academia has come to mean the cultural accumulation of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations and its practitioners and transmitters. In the 17th century, British, Italian and French scholars used the term to describe types of institutions of higher learning, in ancient Greece, after the establishment of the original Academy, Platos colleagues and pupils developed spin-offs of his method. Arcesilaus, a Greek student of Plato established the Middle Academy, carneades, another student, established the New Academy. In 335 BC, Aristotle refined the method with his own theories, the library of Alexandria in Egypt was frequented by intellectuals from Africa, Europe and Asia studying various aspects of philosophy, language and mathematics. The University of Timbuktu was a university in Timbuktu, present-day Mali. During its zenith, the university had an attendance of around 25,000 students within a city of around 100,000 people. In China a higher education institution Shang Xiang was founded by Shun in the Youyu era before the 21st century BC, in the 8th century another kind of institution of learning emerged, named Shuyuan, which were generally privately owned. There were thousands of Shuyuan recorded in ancient times, the degrees from them varied from one to another and those advanced Shuyuan such as Bailudong Shuyuan and Yuelu Shuyuan can be classified as higher institutions of learning. Taxila or Takshashila, in ancient India, modern-day Pakistan, was an early Buddhist centre of learning and it is considered as one of the ancient universities of the world. According to scattered references which were only fixed a millennium later it may have dated back to at least the 5th century BC, some scholars date Takshashilas existence back to the 6th century BC. The school consisted of several monasteries without large dormitories or lecture halls where the instruction was most likely still provided on an individualistic basis. Takshashila is described in detail in later Jātaka tales, written in Sri Lanka around the 5th century AD. It became a centre of learning at least several centuries BC. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya, the famous treatise Arthashastra by Chanakya, is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself. Chanakya, the Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and the Ayurvedic healer Charaka studied at Taxila, generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen
4.
Charles Le Brun
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Charles Le Brun was a French painter and art theorist. Declared by Louis XIV the greatest French artist of all time, he was a dominant figure in 17th-century French art, born in Paris, he attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier, who placed him at the age of eleven in the studio of Simon Vouet. He was also a pupil of François Perrier, in Rome he remained four years in the receipt of a pension due to the liberality of the chancellor. There he worked under Poussin, adapting the latters theories of art, on his return to Paris in 1646, Le Brun found numerous patrons, of whom Superintendent Fouquet was the most important, for whom he painted a large portrait of Anne of Austria. Employed at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Le Brun ingratiated himself with Mazarin, then secretly pitting Colbert against Fouquet, Colbert also promptly recognized Le Bruns powers of organization, and attached him to his interests. Together they took control of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and the Academy of France at Rome, another project Le Brun worked on was Hôtel Lambert. The ceiling in the gallery of Hercules was painted by him, Le Brun started work on the project in 1650, shortly after his return from Italy. The decoration continued intermittently over twelve years or so, as it was interrupted by the renovation of Vaux le Vicomte. In 1660 they established the Gobelins, which at first was a school for the manufacture, not of tapestries only. He was the originator of Louis XIV Style and gave a direction to the national tendencies which endured centuries after his death, the King had declared him the greatest French artist of all time. From this date all that was done in the palaces was directed by Le Brun. In 1663, he director of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. While he was working on The Battles, Le Bruns style became more personal as he moved away from the ancient masters that influenced him. Le Bruns decoration is not only a work of art, it is the monument of a reign. This contributed to the illness which on 22 February 1690 ended in his death in his private mansion, Le Brun primarily worked for King Louis XIV, for whom he executed large altarpieces and battle pieces. His most important paintings are at Versailles, besides his gigantic labours at Versailles and the Louvre, the number of his works for religious corporations and private patrons is enormous. Le Brun was also a fine portraitist and an excellent draughtsman, but he was not fond of portrait or landscape painting, what mattered was scholarly composition, whose ultimate goal was to nourish the spirit. For Le Brun, a painting represented a story one could read, nearly all his compositions have been reproduced by celebrated engravers
5.
Antonio Verrio
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The Italian-born Antonio Verrio was responsible for introducing Baroque mural painting into England and served the Crown over a thirty-year period. Verrio, born in Lecce, Kingdom of Naples, started his career in Lecce and was a pupil of Giovanni Andrea Coppola, several works by Verrio still exist in the Apulian city, including S. Francesco Saverio appare al Beato Marcello Mastrilli – his first known signed work. Around 1665, Verrio moved to the region of Toulouse where he was commissioned to decorate the Château Bonrepos and he then settled in Toulouse itself where he worked for the Carmes Déchaussées and the Capucins. Today two of his paintings, Le Mariage de la Vierge et Saint-Félix de Cantalice, are in the collection of the Musée des Augustins there. Around 1670, Verrio moved to Paris where he developed an aristocratic clientele, in March 1672, Verrio crossed the Channel on the recommendation of Ralph Montagu, who had been English Ambassador Extraordinary in Paris since 1669. Thanks to Montagu, Verrio made his English debut working for such as the 1st Earl of Arlington and the 1st Duke of Lauderdale. By 1675, Verrio had painted the allegorical portrait of the king known as The Sea Triumph of Charles II. Soon afterwards he was engaged to decorate the North Range of Windsor Castle, where he collaborated with the architect Hugh May and the sculptor Grinling Gibbons. This was the most important commission of his career, twenty ceilings. On its completion, in 1684, Verrio was appointed ‘Chief, only three ceilings have survived the redecoration of the castle commissioned by George IV during the 1820s. On the succession of James II, Verrio continued his service and decorated Whitehall Palace. In March 1685, he was also appointed ‘Keeper of the Great Garden in St James’s Park’, at the Glorious Revolution, Verrio received no royal protection from William III and had to leave the court. Verrio, who had worked for the nobility while he was employed by Charles and James and he spent the next decade at Burghley House, the property of the 5th Earl of Exeter, and Chatsworth, the property of the 4th Earl of Devonshire. Both are very fine examples of English Baroque decoration, and Burghley contains Verrio’s masterpiece, by 1699, William finally overrode the Test Act and invited Verrio back to court. After having worked at Windsor again, Verrio undertook the decoration of Hampton Court Palace for William, at his death, in 1702, Verrio continued his royal service and painted for Queen Anne his last royal commission in the Queen’s Drawing Room. In 1705, Verrio was granted by the queen an annual pension of £200, before his death, on 15 June 1707, Verrio painted a series of portraits including his self-portrait, now in the National Portrait Gallery. Verrio influenced younger artists such as Louis Laguerre and James Thornhill, in France, his work can be seen in Toulouse at the musée des Augustins and at Saint Exupères church and in Paris, where he painted some of the vaults of the Hôtel Brûlart. In Italy, his paintings can be found in churches and in the provincial museum of Lecce
6.
James Thornhill
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Sir James Thornhill was an English painter of historical subjects working in the Italian baroque tradition. Thornhill was born in Melcombe Regis, Dorset, the son of Walter Thornhill of Wareham and Mary, eldest daughter of Colonel William Sydenham, in 1689 he was apprenticed to Thomas Highmore, a specialist in non-figurative decorative painting. He also learned a great deal from Antonio Verrio and Louis Laguerre and he completed his apprenticeship in 1696 and, on 1 March 1704, became a Freeman of the Painter-Stainers Company of London. Thornhill decorated palace interiors with large-scale compositions, with figures shown in idealized. In 1707 he was given the commission to decorate the Hall now known as the Painted Hall at Greenwich Hospital, the scheme of allegorical wall and ceiling decorations of the hall depicts the Protestant succession of English monarchs from William and Mary to George I. On 28 June 1715 Thornhill was awarded the commission to decorate the dome of St Pauls Cathedral by a whig, the Weekly Packet said that the decision to award Thornhill the commission would put to silence all the loud applauses hitherto given to foreign artists. The eight scenes in the dome, executed in grisaille, show episodes from the Life of St. Paul, Thornhills vast murals in great houses often related to topical events, as seen through the eyes of his mainly Whig patrons. Here he painted The Rape of the Sabine Women, a vast panorama of mounted warriors carrying off the Sabine women to Rome, the subject is, inevitably, the Dukes 1704 victory at the Battle of Blenheim, during the War of the Spanish Succession. His last major commission was to paint the chapel at Wimpole Hall, he started work on the sketches in 1713. The north wall has fictive architecture and four Trompe-lœil statues of the four Doctors of the Church, the east wall above the altar is painted with the Adoration of the Magi. In 1725 he offered to paint decorations for the ceiling of the New Council Chamber at the Guildhall in the City of London and he gave his services free, although he was rewarded with a valuable gold cup. The chamber was demolished, though some of the paintings – an Allegory of London. In his native Dorset Thornhill decorated the reredos at St. Marys Church, in 1711, Thornhill was one of the twelve original directors of Sir Godfrey Knellers academy at Great Queen Street, London. In 1716, he succeeded Kneller as Governor there and held the post until 1720 and he then established his own private drawing school at Covent Garden, but this soon closed. In November 1724, Thornhill made a second, more successful, William Hogarth seems to have been a member of Thornhills second academy from the beginning. On 23 March 1729 he married Thornhills daughter Jane, Thornhill was with Hogarth when he went to see Sarah Malcolm in Newgate prison just days before her execution. This was in order that Hogarth might record her portrait, in June 1718 George I made Thornhill court painter, and in March 1720 Serjeant Painter. On 2 May 1720, the king knighted him, the first native artist to be knighted, in the same year, he was master of the Painters Company and in 1723 fellow of the Royal Society
7.
History painting
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History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than artistic style. History paintings usually depict a moment in a story, rather than a specific and static subject. The term is derived from the senses of the word historia in Latin and Italian, meaning story or narrative. Most history paintings are not of scenes from history, especially paintings from before about 1850, History paintings almost always contain a number of figures, often a large number, and normally show some type of action that is a moment in a narrative. The genre includes depictions of moments in religious narratives, above all the Life of Christ, as well as scenes from mythology. These groups were for long the most frequently painted, works such as Michelangelos Sistine Chapel ceiling are therefore history paintings, History painting may be used interchangeably with historical painting, and was especially so used before the 20th century. Where a distinction is made historical painting is the painting of scenes from secular history, in the 19th century historical painting in this sense became a distinct genre. In phrases such as historical painting materials, historical means in use before about 1900 and he placed emphasis on the ability to depict the interactions between the figures by gesture and expression. This view remained general until the 19th century, when artistic movements began to struggle against the establishment institutions of academic art, which continued to adhere to it. Scenes from ancient history had been popular in the early Renaissance, and once again became common in the Baroque and Rococo periods, and still more so with the rise of Neoclassicism. In some 19th or 20th century contexts, the term may refer specifically to paintings of scenes from history, rather than those from religious narratives. Scenes from ancient history and mythology were also popular, artists continued for centuries to strive to make their reputation by producing such works, often neglecting genres to which their talents were better suited. The large works of Raphael were long considered, with those of Michelangelo, un Peintre qui ne fait que des portraits, na pas encore cette haute perfection de lArt, & ne peut prétendre à lhonneur que reçoivent les plus sçavans. He who produces perfect landscapes is above another who only produces fruit, a painter who only does portraits still does not have the highest perfection of his art, and cannot expect the honour due to the most skilled. By the late 18th century, with religious and mytholological painting in decline, there was an increased demand for paintings of scenes from history. Classical history remained popular, but scenes from national histories were often the best-received, the unheroic nature of modern dress was regarded as a serious difficulty. When, in 1770, Benjamin West proposed to paint The Death of General Wolfe in contemporary dress and he ignored these comments and showed the scene in modern dress. Although George III refused to purchase the work, West succeeded both in overcoming his critics objections and inaugurating a more historically accurate style in such paintings. M. W, conveniently their clothes had been worn away to classical-seeming rags by the point the painting depicts
8.
Blenheim Palace
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Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the residence of the Dukes of Marlborough. The palace, one of Englands largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1722, Blenheim Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style and it is unique in its combined use as a family home, mausoleum and national monument. The palace is notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill. At the end of the 19th century, the palace was saved from ruin by funds gained from the 9th Duke of Marlboroughs marriage to American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, the exterior of the palace remains in good repair. John Churchill was born in Devon, although his family had aristocratic relations, it belonged to the minor gentry rather than the upper echelons of 17th-century society. In 1678, Churchill married Sarah Jennings, and in April that year, in May, Churchill was appointed the temporary rank of Brigadier-General of Foot, but the possibility of a continental campaign was eliminated with the Treaty of Nijmegen. When Churchill returned to England, the Popish Plot resulted in a temporary three-year banishment for James Stuart, the Duke obliged Churchill to attend him, first to The Hague, then in Brussels. On the death of Charles II in 1685, his brother, on Jamess succession Churchill was appointed governor of the Hudsons Bay Company. He had also been affirmed Gentleman of the Bedchamber in April, following the Monmouth Rebellion, Churchill was promoted to Major General and awarded the lucrative colonelcy of the Third Troop of Life Guards. When William, Prince of Orange, invaded England in November 1688, Churchill, accompanied by some 400 officers and men, when the King saw he could not even keep Churchill—for so long his loyal and intimate servant—he fled to France. As part of William IIIs coronation honours Churchill was created Earl of Marlborough, sworn to the Privy Council, during the War of the Spanish Succession Churchill gained a reputation as a capable military commander, and in 1702 he was elevated to the dukedom of Marlborough. During the war he won series of victories, including the Battle of Blenheim, the Battle of Ramillies, the Battle of Oudenarde, and this flag is displayed by the Monarch on a 17th-century French writing table in Windsor Castle. Marlboroughs wife was by all accounts a cantankerous woman, though capable of great charm, the relationship between Queen and Duchess later became strained and fraught, and following their final quarrel in 1711, the money for the construction of Blenheim ceased. For political reasons the Marlboroughs went into exile on the Continent until they returned the day after the Queens death on 1 August 1714, legend has obscured the manors origins. King Henry I enclosed the park to contain the deer, Henry II housed his mistress Rosamund Clifford there in a bower and labyrinth, a spring in which she is said to have bathed remains, named after her. The Duchess, as so often in her disputes with her architect, won the day, the architect selected for the ambitious project was a controversial one
9.
Marlborough House
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It was built for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, the favourite and confidante of Queen Anne. For over a century it served as the London residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, the Duchess wanted her new house to be strong, plain and convenient and good. The architect Christopher Wren and his son of the name designed a brick building with rusticated stone quoins that was completed in 1711. The house was taken up by the Crown in 1817, Marlborough House was primarily used by members of the Royal Family, especially dowager queens and by Prince Albert Edward of Wales and his wife Alexandra. Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, was given the use of Marlborough House from 1831 until her death in 1849. From 1853 to 1861 Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, arranged for the building to be used by the National Art Training School, later the Royal College of Art. From 1861-1863, the building was enlarged to designs by Sir James Pennethorne, who added a range of rooms on the north side. This was done for the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and his wife the Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark, after Edward VII died in 1910, Alexandra reverted to Marlborough House as her London home, until her death in 1925. A late Art Nouveau-Gothic memorial fountain by Alfred Gilbert in the Marlborough Road wall of the house commemorates her, in 1936 Marlborough House became the London residence of their sons widow, Queen Mary. Mary survived George by 17 years, in the grounds of the house remains her pet cemetery. A thatch-roofed rotating summer house built for her still is in place, a plaque to commemorate Queen Mary was unveiled by the Queen in 1967 in the exterior wall closest to the corner with the Mall. The nearly cubical saloon retains wall-paintings by Louis Laguerre of the Battle of Blenheim, a cupola inserted in the ceiling is surrounded by paintings by Orazio Gentileschi for the Queens House, Greenwich,1636. There are paired staircases flanking the saloon, with further battle pieces by Laguerre, most of the interiors have been altered. Marlborough House is usually open to the public for Open House Weekend each September, the house is also open for group tours by prior arrangement. Visiting Information at The Commonwealth Secretariat Virtual tour Flickr images tagged Marlborough House
10.
Petworth House
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It contains intricate wood-carvings by Grinling Gibbons. It is the house of the manor of Petworth. For centuries it was the home for the Percy family. Petworth is famous for its art collection made by George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont. It also has a deer park, landscaped by Capability Brown. The manor of Petworth first came into the possession of the Percy family as a gift from Adeliza of Louvain. He later married the Percy heiress and adopted the surname Percy and his descendents became the Earls of Northumberland, the most powerful family in northern England. The Percy family, whose seat was at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, bordering Scotland. However, in the late 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I grew suspicious of the Percy familys allegiance to Mary, Queen of Scots, and confined them to Petworth. In 1682, at the age of 16 and already widowed, she married the 20 year old Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. They became one of the wealthiest couples in England, the site was previously occupied by a fortified manor house built by Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy, the 13th-century chapel and undercroft of which still survive. He adds not so ancient blood to your family, as part of his plan he petitioned the king to grant him the additional title of Earl of Northumberland, with special remainder to Wyndham. The plan was opposed by his son the future 7th Duke, who petitioned the king against, in 2015 Smithsons descendant Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland still owns the said Percy estates. George Wyndham, created in 1859 by Queen Victoria Baron Leconfield and he attempted to make up for the loss of Petworth by building his own stately home in Devon called Silverton Park, which was widely deemed hideous and was demolished in 1901. The future 6th Baron Leconfield was in 1963 created Baron Egremont, the house and deer park were handed over to the nation in 1947 by Edward Wyndham, 5th Baron Leconfield and are now managed by the National Trust under the name Petworth House & Park. The Leconfield Estates continue to own much of Petworth and the surrounding area, the contents of the house, in particular the paintings and sculptures, are now the property of the National Trust having been taken in lieu of accumulated death duties. Lord Egremont and his live in the south wing, allowing much of the remainder to be open to the public. Lady Egremont has restored the gardens, todays building houses an important collection of paintings and sculptures, including 19 oil paintings by J. M. W
