As the Red Army rolled across Poland towards Berlin during the cold winter of 1944/45 it came to the notorious death camp where over a million people were exterminated, most of them Jewish on 27th January 1945. The horrors of what was being whispered about in the lands free from Nazi oppression, but being denied,… Continue reading Today we remember the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, & commemorate those lives
During the Renaissance, the myths of classical Greece and Rome entertained and inspired artists, poets, playwrights and in particular, Titian who used them to create a series of paintings for Philip II of Spain's private camerino in Madrid during the 1550s. Today, these myths and legends still inspire those with a creative mind. Loosley based… Continue reading Wilding – an ancient tale for modern times
But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them,… Continue reading Easter Day and Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord
Maundy Thursday marked the beginning of the most solemn part of the Easter festival for the Christian Church and is also the festival of Passover in the Judaic faith. Services would normally take place in churches and synagogues, but in these days of Covid-19 the sacred places remain shut in order to contain the spread… Continue reading The Events of Holy Thursday and Good Friday through the eyes of the Northern European Masters
For those of you who have visited Westminster Abbey's gallery displaying various treasures of our ancient abbey, you may have well have failed to notice an illuminated manuscript known as The Cramp Ring manuscript. In 2006 when I was researching my Master’s dissertation I was allowed to photograph the whole manuscript and the images of the… Continue reading The Good Friday Ceremony of the blessing of cramp rings and the curing of the King’s Evil
Recently, Rebecca Larson of www.Tudor’sDynasty.com and I were communing about how to amuse ourselves during this Covid-19 crisis and what we could do if we ended up having to self-isolate. We came up with the idea of creating a new Decameron, the first version was written by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) in around 1353. So we are throwing it out… Continue reading The Tudors Dynasty Decameron 2020 project
When undertaking a study of both European history and art history, it is essential to understand the way people of that period thought. It is one of the first things you are taught at university and for this you do need to delve into the classical texts and understand the various major events that affected all… Continue reading The influence of Renaissance learning on the visual arts
