May 18, 2005
Westminster Retable on display
The heartbreaking ruin of a great work of art went on view yesterday at the National Gallery, and drew awed viewers from the moment the gallery opened.From the Guardian, which also throws in a few quotes from Paul Binski. The National Gallery has a page on the retable exhibition, but you'll get more out of this article from last month's TelegraphJust enough has been salvaged, through six years and thousands of hours of conservation work, to prove that the Westminster Retable, made almost 750 years ago and now the oldest surviving altarpiece in England, was a masterpiece of European medieval art.
Posted by David on May 18, 2005 11:07 PM
From the pictures I found on the Web, it was a magnificent creation; what's left of it attesting to its beauty. How could anyone have been so crass as to turn it into a cupboard? But then I've heard of hand lettered illuminated manuscripts used for scratch paper....on the other side of the bell curve are people who save everything, including bottle caps and string.
Posted by: Sarah
on May 19, 2005 7:04 PM
Sarah - the most horrific statement (it chills my blood to type it) about manuscripts is from Ruskin. He records in his journal for one rainy Sunday afternoon "spent day cutting up Romish missals. Hard work." He wanted the illuminated initials for his album. I suppose we should be grateful for the pages he didn't burn as fire starters.
Posted by: Michael Tinkler on May 19, 2005 8:17 PM
gmail.com