Museum
Introduction
Art plays an important role in the life of a man and sometimes it is next to
impossible to live without it. It is natural that the first thing that comes to
my mind at the mention of the word ‘art’ is museums.
A museum is a stock of the world’s masterpieces, it is the place, where you
can enrich knowledge, you can look at the achievements of mankind, you can
satisfy your aesthetic taste. Museums give the possibility to be always in touch
with the past and every time discover something new for yourself. Besides,
museums play an important role in the life of any nation. A museum is just the
right place to find out lots of interesting things about history, traditions and
habits of different peoples. One may find in museums papers, photos, books,
scripts, works of art, personal things of famous people etc. All this helps us
to better understand historical events, scientific discoveries, character and
deeds of well-known personalities.
I think museums somehow effect the formation of personality, his outlook.
Every educated person is sure to understand the great significance of museums in
our life, especially nowadays, when after the humdrum of everyday life you may
go to your favourite museum, relax there with your body and soul and acquire
inner harmony and balance.
I am a regular museum-goer. In fact I visited no less than 20 museums. Among
them: the Louver, the National Gallery, the Shakespeare House in Stratford-on
Avon, the Oxford story exhibition, Museum of Reading, Madam Tussaud’s Exhibition,
the Tretyakov Gallery and others. We can hardly find a town in our country
without its «Fine Arts» Museum. I’ve been in Voronezh, Kislovodsk, Essentuky and
some other regional museums.
Now I want to write about the Tretyakov Gallery, Windsor Castle, Westminster
Abbey, Buckinngham Palace and Hermitage, about their history and their
collections.
The Hermitage
The State Hermitage in St. Petersburg ranks among the world’s most
outstanding art museums. It is the largest museum in Russia: nowadays its vast
and varied collections take up four buildings; its rooms if stretched in one
line would measure many miles in total length, while they cover an area of 94240
square meters. Over 300 rooms are open to the public and contain a rich
selection from the museum’s collections numbering about 2500000 items. The
earliest exhibits Date from 500000-300000B.C., the latest are modern works.
The collections possessed by the museum are distributed among its seven
departments and form over forty permanent exhibitions. A common feature,
characterising these exhibitions is the arrangement of items (all of them
originals) according to countries and schools in a strictly chronological order,
with a view to illustrating almost every stage of human culture and every great
art epoch from the prehistoric times to the 20th century.
Fabulous treasures are gathered in the Museum. It contains a rare collection
of specimens of Soythian culture and art; objects of great aesthetic and
historical value found in the burial mounds of the Altai; a most complete
representation of exhibits characterising Russian culture and art. The Oriental
collections of the Museum, ranking among the richest in the world, give an idea
of the culture and art of the people of the Near and the Far East; India, China,
Byzantium and Iran, are best represented; remarkable materials illustrative of
the culture and art of the peoples inhabiting the Caucasus and Central Asia,
also from part of the collections of the Department. The Museum numbers among
its treasures monuments of ancient Greece and Rome and those from the Greek
settlements on the North coast of the Black Sea.
World famous is the collection of West-European paintings, covering a span of
about seven hundred years, from the 13th to the 20th century, and comprising
works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, El Greco, Velazquez, Murillo;
outstanding paintings by Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens; a remarkable group of
French eighteenth century canvases, and Impressionist and Post Impressionist
paintings. The collection illustrates the art of Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium,
Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and some other countries. The
West European Department of the Museum also includes a fine collection of
European sculpture, containing works by Michelangelo, Canova, Falkonet, Houdon,
Rodin and many other eminent masters; a marvellous collection of prints and
drawings, numbering about 600 000 items; arms and armour; one of the world most
outstanding collections of applied art, rich in tapestries, furniture, lace,
ivories, porcelain metalwork, bronzes, silver, jewellery and enamels. An
important part among the museum possessions is taken by the numismatic
collection, which numbers over 1 000 000 items and is regarded as one of the
largest in the world. A permanent exhibition of coins, orders and medals is open
on the 2nd floor, rooms 398-400. There are auxiliary displays of coins forming
part of exhibitions in other departments as well. A temporary exhibition of
West-European medals is on view in the Raphael Loggias (1st floor, room 227).
The seven departments of the museum, i.e. the Department of Russian Culture,
Primitive culture, Culture and Art of the peoples of the Soviet East, Culture
and Art of the Foreign Countries of the East, Culture and Art of the Antique
World, West-European Art, Numismatics, together with the Education Department,
the Conservation Department and the Library determine the administrative and
academic structure of the museum.
Within the past few decades the Hermitage has become one of the country’s
most important centres of art study with a research staff of about 200
historians carrying out a vast program of research on art problems, and
responsible for the preservation of the museum treasures, their conservation and
restoration, and also for the scientific popularisation of art. The results of
this varied work are published in the form of books, articles, periodicals,
pamphlets, etc.
Since 1949 a post-graduate school has been functioning at the Hermitage,
specialists in art working here at their theses.
An important aspect of the Museum’s research activities is the work of the
annual archaeological expeditions organised by the Museum either independently
or in co-operation with other Soviet scientific institutions. The most notable
among them are: the Kazmir-Blur expedition making excavations of the city of
Taishebaini dating from the 7th century B.C and situated on the Kazmir-Blur hill
near Erevan; the Chersonese and Nymphaeum expeditions working on the sites of
the ancient Greek towns in the Crimea, the Tadjik, Altai, Pskov and some other
expeditions.The material discovered by them is of exceptional value, for not
only does it throw fresh light on the problems of the history of the art and
culture, but it also serves to enrich the Hermitage collections.
Most helpful in the Museum’s research work is the Hermitage Library which
contains about 400 000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, and is one of the largest
among the art libraries in Russia. It was started in the 18th century and
contains works on all branches of fine and applied arts. In addition to the
Central Library each Department has at its disposal a subsidiary library of
special literature. Of these, the library of the Hermitage exchanges books with
a number of Russian and foreign museums. It is open to every student of art.
All these are but a few aspects of the varied work carried out by the Museum and
constantly achieving still greater scope and a few forms, meeting the growing
cultural demands of the Russian people.
THE MAKING OF THE COLLECTION
Although visited now by thousands of people the Museum traditionally retains
the old name of the Hermitage attached to it in the 1760’s and meaning «a
hermit’s dwelling», or «a solitary place». The name is due to the fact that the
Hermitage was founded as a palace museum accessible only to the nearest of the
near to the court.
A number of objects of which but a small part was later incorporated in the
museum’s collections were acquired in different countries by Peter I. These were
antique statues Marine landscapes, land a collection of Siberian ancient gold
buckles. However, the foundation of the Hermitage is usually dated to the year
1764 when a collection of 225 pictures was bought by Catherine II from the
Prussian merchant Gotzkowsky.
A feature characteristic of the 18th century accusations was the purchase of
large groups of paintings, sometimes of complete galleries, bought en blok at
the sales in Western Europe.Count Bruhl’s collection acquired in Dresden in
1769, the Gallery of Crozat, bought in Paris in 1772 and the gallery of Lord
Walpole acquired in London in 1779 were the most prominent among the
acquisitions made in the 18th century. Together with numerous purchases of
individual pictures, they supplied the museum with most outstanding canvases of
the European school ,including those by Rembraandt,Rubens,Van Dyck and other
eminent artists, and made the Hermitage rank among the finest art galleries of
Europe. Works , commissioned by the Russian court from European painters also
enriched the Picture gallery.By 1785 the Museum numbered 2658 paintings. Prints
and drawings, cameos, coins and medals were likewise represented at the
Hermitage.
The acquisition of complete collections and of individual works of art was
continued in the 19th century but on a more modest scale than during the
previous period. Among the most notable acquisitions of the 19th century were:
Mathew Malmaison Gallery of the Empress Josephine bought in 1814; the collection
of the English banker Coesvelt consisting mainly of Spanish paintings, purchased
in Amsterdam the same year; as well as the paintings from the Barrbarigo Palace
inVenice which gave the Museum its best Titians.
As to the individual works of art, the acquisition in 1865 of Leonardo da
Vince’s «Madonna Litta»fromthe Duce of Litta collection and the purchase of
Raphael’s «Virgin and Child» from the Conestebite family in 1870, were important
landmarks in the growth of the treasures of the Hermitage.
In 1885 the Hermitage received an important collection of objects of applied
art of the 12th – 26th centuries, gathered by Basilevsky; , together with the
Armoury transferred from Tsarskoe Selo, notably enriched the Museum with a new
type of material.
The first decade of the 20th century witnessed the acquisition of a
magnificent collection including 730 canvases by the Dutch and Flemish artists,
which had been in the possession of the eminent Russian scientist
Semenov-Tienshansky. Another most important acquisition was Leonardo da Vinci’s
«Madonna and Child» purchased in 1914 from the family of the architect L.Benois.
The Great October Revolution created highly favourable conditions for the
further growth of the Museum collections and their systematic study. Since
October 1917, due to the care taken by Soviet Government for the preservation of
art treasures, the Museum was enriched with a great number of first-class works
of art. Among these were the best pictures chosen by the Hermitage the
nationalised private collections such as those formerly owned by the Yussupovs,
the Shuvalovs, the Stroganovs; paintings transferred from the imperial palaces;
art treasures, acquired by exchange from other museums within the country.
The policy of planned distribution of art treasures among the museums carried
out by the state, enabled the Hermitage not only to fill up many gaps and
deficiencies by adding to its picture gallery Italian paintings of the 13th-15th
centuries, works of the Netherlandish school, and of the French school of the
19th and 20th centuries but to form a museum free from private taste , and made
it possible to arrange the collections systematically. The accumulation of
materials which had not been represented in the museum in the pre-Revolutionary
period ,led to the formation of new departments: the department of the history
of culture and art of the primitive society, of the culture and art of the
peoples of the East, and that of the history of Russian culture.
He immense growth of the collections made it necessary to extend the
exhibition space This is why the building of the Winter Palace was placed at the
disposal of the Hermitage, the name «The State Hermitage» being now applied to
the whole great museum thus formed.
BRITISH SCHOOL
The Hermitage is one of the very few on the Continent which contains a
special section for English pictures.
Portraiture, landscape painting and satire art in which England excelled , are
represented by a number of first-class paintings and prints executed by the most
outstanding artists of British School, mainly of the 18th century. A number of
17th-19th century works are on show too. There are also some notable specimens
of applied art, among which is a fine group of objects in silver and Wedgwood
potteryware . English paintings of the 17th century are extremely rare outside
England.The Hermitage possesses several works of this period. These are: the
Portrait of Oliver Cromwell by Robert Walker, two portraits by Peter Lely, of
which the «Portrait of a Woman» reveals the artist’s sense of colour to great
advantage; also the «Portrait of Grinling Gibbons» by Godfrey Kneller, to name
only the most outstanding canvases.
The collection has no paintings by William Hogarth, but some of his prints
selected from a large and representative collection possessed by the Museum are
usually on show.
Joshua Reynolds is represented by four canvases all painted in the 1780-s.
An interesting example of his late work is the «Infant Hercules strangling
the Serpents», which is an allegory of the youthful Russia vanquishing her
enemies. The picture was commissioned from Reynolds by Catherine II, and was
brought to Russia in 1789. In 1891 two other canvases were sent by Reynolds to
Russia. One was the «Continence of Scepic Africanus» , which , as well as the
«Infant Hercules», reveals Reynolds’s conception of the grand style in art. The
other was «Venus and Cupid»; presumably representing Lady Hamilton .This is one
of the versions of the piñture entitled «The Snake in the Grass», owned by the
National Gallery, London
Reynolds’s «Girl at a window» is a copy with slight modifications, from
Rembrandt’s canvas bearing the same title, and owned by the Dulwich Gallery. It
may be regarded as an example of Reynolds’s study of the «old masters’» works.
A fair idea of the British artists’ achievements in the field of portrait
painting can be gained from the canvases by George Romney Thomas Gainsborough,
John Opie, Henry Rdeburn, John Hoppner and John Russell, all marked by a
vividness of expression and brilliance of execution typical of the British
School of portrait painting in the days when it had achieved a national
tradition. Highly important is Gainsborough’s superb «Portrait of the Duchess of
Beaufort» painted in a loose and most effective manner characteristic of his art
in the late 1770’s. For charm of expression and brilliance of execution, it
ranks among the masterpieces of the Museum.The «Tron Forge» by Joseph Wright of
Derby is an interesting example of a new subject in English18th century art: the
theme of labour and industry, which merged in the days of the Industrial
Revolution.
The few paintings of importance belonging to the British school of the 19th
century include a landscape ascribed to John Constable; the «Boats at a shore»
by Richard Parkers Bonington; the «Portrait of an old woman» by David Wilki,
three portraits by Thomas Lawrence and portraits by George Daive, of which the
unfinished «Portrait of the Admiral Shishkov» is the most impressive.
The collection was largely formed at the beginning of the 20th century, a
great part of it deriving from the Khitrovo collection bequeathed to the Museum
in 1916.
THE TRETYAKOV GALLERY
The Tretyakov Gallery , founded by Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (1832-1989),
a Moscow merchant and art patron, is a national treasury of Russian
pre-revolutionary and Russian art.
The Gallery’s centenary was widely celebrated throughout Russia in May 1956.
Tretyakov spent his life collecting the works of Russian painters which
reflected the spirit and ideas of all progressive intellectual of his day. He
began his collection in 1856 with the purchase of «Temptation» (1856) by
N.Shilder and «Finnish Smugglers» (1853) by V.Khudyakov. These paintings are on
permanent exhibition. In order that his collection better reflect the
centuries-old traditions of Russian art he acquired works of various epochs and
also began a collection of antique icons. Tretyakov was one of the few people of
his time who realised the great intrinsic value of ancient Russian art. He was
on friendly terms with many progressive , democratic Russian painters,
frequenting their studious, taking an active interest in their work, often
suggesting themes for new paintings, and helping them financially. His
collection grew rapidly; by 1872 a special building was erected to house it.
Tretyakov was aware of the national importance of his vast collection of
Russian art and presented it to the city of Moscow in 1892, thus establishing
the first museum in Russia. An excerpt from his will reads: « Desirous of
facilitating the establishment in my beloved city of useful institutions aimed
at promoting the development of art in Russia, and in order to hand down to
succeeding generations the collection I have amassed I hereby bequeath my entire
picture gallery and the works of art contained therein, as well as my half of
the house, to the Moscow City Duma. By special decree of the Soviet Government,
Issued on June 3 1918 and signed by V.I. Lenin, the Gallery was designated one
of the most important educational establishments of the country. It was also
decreed that the name of its founder be retained in honour of Tretyakov’s great
services to Russian culture.
The Gallerie’s collection has grown considerably in the years since the
Revolution. In 1893 it consisted of 1805 works of art, but by 1956 the number
had increased to 35276.The early Russian Art department and the collections of
sculpture and drawings were considerably enlarged, and an entirely new
department- Soviet Art- was created. By a Government decision of 1956, a new
house is to be built for the Gallery within the next few years.
At present, the more interesting and distinctive works, tracing the
development of Russian art through nearly ten centuries, are exhibit in the
Gallery’s 54 halls.
BUCKINGHAM PALACE
Buckingham palace is the official London residence of Her Majesty The Queen
and as such is one of the best known and most potent symbols of the British
monarchy. Yet it has been a royal residence for only just over two hundred and
thirty years and a palace for much less; and its name, known the world over, is
owed not to a monarch but to an English Duke.
Buckingham House was built for John, first Duke of Buckingham, between 1702 and
1705. It was sold to the Crown in 1762. Surprisingly, since it was a large house
in a commanding position, it was never intended to be the principal residence of
the monarch.
Although King George III modernised and enlarged the house considerably in
the 1760s and 17770s, the transformations that give the building its present
palatial character were carried out for King George IY by Nash in the 1820s, by
Edward Blore for King William IY and Queen Victoria in the 1830s and 40s, and by
James Pennethoooorne in the 1850s.
In the reign of King Edward YII, much of the present white and gold
decoration was substituted for the richly coloured 19th century schemes of Nash
and Blore; and in the 1920s, Queen Mary used the firm of White Allom to
redecorate a number of rooms.
The rooms open to visitors are used principally for official entertainment
.These include Receptions and State Banquets, and it is on such occasions, when
the rooms are filled with flowers and thronged with formally dressed guests and
liveried servants, that the Palace is seen at its most splendid and imposing.
But of course the Palace is also far more than just the London home of the Royal
Family and a place of lavish entertainment. It has become the administrative
centre of the monarchy where, among a multitude of engagements, Her Majesty
receives foreign Heads of State, Commonwealth leaders and representatives of the
Diplomatic Corps and conducts Investitures, and where the majority of the Royal
Houshold, consisting of six main Departments and a staff of about three hundred
people, have their offices.
THE QUEEN’S HOUSE
The Duke of Buckingham’s house, which George III purchased in 1762, was
designed by the architect William Winde, possibly with the advice of John
Talman, in 1702.
The new house, a handsome brick and stone mansion crowned with statuary and
joined by colonnades to outlying wings, looked eastward down the Mall and
westwards over the splendid canal and formal gardens, laid out for the Duke by
Henry Wise partly on the site of the royal Mulberry Garden. This garden had been
part of an ill-fated attempt by James I to introduce a silk industry to rival
that of France by planting thousands of mulberry trees.
The building and its setting were well suited to the dignity of the Duke, a
former Lord Chamberlain and suitor of Princess Anne, and of his wife, an
illegitimate daughter of James II, whose eccentricity and delusions of grandeur
earned her the nickname of «Princess Buckingham».
The principal rooms, then as now, were on the first floor. They were reached
by a magnificent staircase with ironwork by Jean Tijou and walls painted by
Louis Laguerre with the story of Dido and Aeneas.
Under the architectural direction of Sir William Chambers and over the
following twelve years The Queen’s House was gradually modernised and enlarged
to provide accommodation for the King and Queen and their children, as well as
their growing collection of books, pictures and works of art.
QUEEN VICTORIA’S PALACE
At the age of eighteen, Queen Victoria became the first Sovereign to live at
Buckingham Palace.
John Nash had rightly predicted that the Palace would prove too small, but
this was a fault capable of remedy. The absence of a chapel was made good after
the Queen’s marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, when the south
conservatory was converted in 1843.
In 1847 the architect Edward Blore added the new East Front. Along the first
floor Blore placed the Principal Corridor, a gallery 240 feet long overlooking
the Quadrangle and divided into three sections by folding doors of mirror glass.
It links the Royal Corridor on the south, and opens into suites of semi-state
rooms facing the Mall and St James’s Park. Blore introduced into the East Front
some of the finest fittings from George IY’s Royal Pavilion at Brighton, which
Queen Victoria ceased to use after the purchase of Osborn House in 1845.
The new building rendered the Marble Arch both functionally and ornamentally
dispensable, and it was removed in 1850 to its present site at the north-east
corner of Hyde Park.
THE STATE ROOMS
Most of the principal State Rooms are located on to first floor of Bughingham
Palace. They are approached from Nash’s Grand Hall which in its unusual low
proportions echoes the original hall of Bughingham House. The coupled columns
which surround the Hall are each composed of a single block of veined Carrara
marble enriched with Corinthian capitals of gilt bronze made by Samuel Parker.
The Grand Staircase, built by Nash on site of the original stairs, divides
theatrically into three flights at the first landing, two flights curving
upwards to the Guard room. The gilded balustrade was made by Samuel Parker in
1828-30. The walls are set with full-length portraits which include George III
and Queen Charlotte by Beechey,William IY by Lawrence and Queen Adelaide by
Archer Shee. The sculptured wall panels were designed by Thomas Stothard and the
etched glass dome was made by Wainwright and Brothers.
GALLERY
The picture Gallery, the largest room in the Palace, was formed by Nash in
the area of Queen Charlotte’s old apartments. Nash’s ceiling, modified by Blore
in the 1830s, was altered by Sir Aston Webb in 1914.
As there are many loans to exhibitions, the arrangement is subject to
periodic change. However the Gallery normally contains works by Van Dyck,
Rubens, Cuyp and Rembrandt among others. The chimneypieces are carved with heads
of artists and the marble group at the end, by Chantrey, represents Mrs Jordan,
mistress of William.
From the Suilk Tapestry Room the route leads via the East Gallery, Cross and
West Galleries to the State Dining Room. This room is used on formal occasions
and is hung with portraits of GeorgeIY, his parents, grandparents and
great-grandparents.
THE PALACE AT WORK
BUCKINNGHAM Palace is certainly one of the most famous buildings in the
world, known to millions as Queen’s home. Yet it is very much a working building
and centre of the large office complex that is required for the administration
of the modern monarchy.
Although foreign ambassadors are officially accredited to the Court of St
James’s and some ceremonies, such as the Proclamation of a new Sovereign, still
take place at St James’s Palace, all official business now effectively takes
place at Buckingham Palace.
In some ways the Palace resembles a small town. For the 300 people who work
there, there is a Post office and a police station, staff canteens and dinning
rooms. There is a special three-man security team equipped with a fluoroscope,
which examines every piece of mail that arrives at the Palace.
There is also a soldier who is responsible for making sure the Royal Standard is
flying whenever The Queen is in residence, and to make sure it is taken down
when she leaves. It is his job to watch for the moment when the Royal limousine
turns into the Palace gates - at the very second The Queen enters her Palace,
the Royal Standard is hoisted.
Buckingham Palace is not only the name of the Royal Family but also the
workplace of an army of secretaries, clerks and typists, telephonists,
carpenters and plumbers etc.
The business of monarchy never stops and the light is often shining from the
window of the Queen’s study late at night as she works on the famous «boxes»,
the red and blue leather cases in which are delivered the State papers, official
letters and reports which follow her whenever she is in the world.
There can hardly be a single one of 600 or so rooms in the Palace that is not in
more or less constant use.
The senior member of the Royal Household is the Lord Chamberlain. In addition
to the role of overseeing all the departments of the Household, he has a wide
variety of responsibilities, including all ceremonial duties relating to the
Sovereign, apart from the wedding, coronation and funeral of the monarch. .These
remain the responsibility of the Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk. The Lord
Chamberlain’s Office has the greatest variety of responsibilities. It looks
after all incoming visits by overseas Heads of State and the administration of
the Chapels Royal. It also supervises the appointment of Pages of Honour , the
Sergeants of Arms, the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, the Master of the
Queen’s Music, and the Keeper of the Queen’s Swans.
The director of the Royal Collection is responsible for one of the finest
collections of works of art in the world. The Royal Collection is a vast
assemblage of works of art of all kinds, comprising some 10,000 pictures,
enamels and miniatures, 20,000 drawings, 10,000 watercolours and 500,000 prints,
and many thousands of pieces of furniture, sculpture, glass, porcelain, arms and
armour, textiles, silver, gold and jewellery.
It has largely been formed by succeeding sovereigns, consorts and other members
of the Royal Family in the three hundred years since the Restoration of the
Monarchy in 1660.
The Collection is presently housed in twelve principal locations open to the
public, which include Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court
Palace, Windsor Castle, The Palace of Holyroodhouse and Osborne House.
In addition a substantial number of objects are on indefinite loan to the
British Museum, National Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum and Museum of
London.
Additional access to the Royal Collection is provided by means of
exhibitions, notably at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, opened in 1962.
WINDSOR CASTLE
Windsor Castle is the oldest royal residence to have remained in continuous
use by the monarchs of Britain and is in many ways an architectural epitome of
the history of the nation. Its skyline of battlements, turrets and the great
Round Tower is instantly recognised throughout the world. The Castle covers an
area of nearly thirteen acres and contains, as well as a royal palace, a
magnificent collegiate church and the homes or workplaces of a large number of
people ,including the Constable and Governor of the Castle, the Military Knights
of Windsor and their families, etc.
The Castle was founded by William the Conqueror c. 1080 and was conceived as
one of a chain of fortifications built as a defensive ring round London.
Norman castles were built to a standard plan with an artificial earthen mound
supporting a tower or keep, the entrance to which was protected by an outer
fenced courtyard or baily. Windsor is the most notable example of a particularly
distinctive version of this basic plan developed for use on a ridge site. It
comprises a central mote with a large bialy to either side of it rather than
just on one side as was more than usual.
As first built, the Castle was entirely defensive, constructed of earth and
timber, but easy access from London and the proximity of the Castle to the old
royal hunting forest to the south soon recommended it as a royal residence.
Henry I is known to have had domestic quarterswithin the castle as early as 1110
and Henry converted the Castle into a palace. He built two separate sets of
royal apartments within the fortified enclosure: a public or official state
residence in the Lower Ward, with a hall where he could entertain his court and
the barons on great occasions, and a smaller private residence on the North side
of the Upper Ward for the exclusive occupation of himself and his family.
Henry II was a great builder at all his residences. He began to replace the
old timber outer walls of the Upper Ward with a hard heath stone found ten miles
south of Windsor. The basic curtain wall round the Upper Ward, much modified by
later alterations and improvements, dates from Henry II’s time, as does the old
part of the stone keep, known as the Round Tower , on top of William’s the
Conqueror’s mote. The reconstruction of the curtain wall round the Lower Ward
was completed over the next sixty years. The well-preserved section visible from
the High street with its three half-round towers was built by Henry III in the
1220s.He took a keen personal interest in all his projects and carried out
extensive works at Windsor. In his time it became one of the three principal
royal palaces alongside those at Westminster and Winchester. He rebuilt Henry
II’s apartments in the Lower Ward and added there a large new chapel, all
forming a coherently planned layout round a courtyard with a cloister; parts
survive embedded in later structures in the Lower Ward. He also further improved
the royal private apartments in the Upper Ward.
The outstanding medieval expansion of Windsor, however, took place in the
reign of Edward III. His huge building project at the Castle was probably the
most ambitious single architectural scheme in the whole history of the English
royal residences, and cost the astonishing total of 50,772 pounds. Rebuilt with
the proceeds of the King’s military triumphs, the Castle was converted by Edward
III into a fortified palace redolent of chivalry The stone base was and military
glory, as the centre of his court and the seat of his newly founded Order of the
Garter .Even today, the massive Gothic architecture of Windsor reflects Edward
III’s medieval ideal of Christian, chivalric monarchy as clearly as Louis XIY’s
Versailles represents baroque absolutism.
The Lower Ward was reconstructed, the old royal lodgings being transformed
into the College of St George, and a new cloister, which still survives, built
with traceeried windows. In addition there were to be twenty-six Poor Knights.
Henry III’s chapel was made over for their use, rebuilt and renamed St George’s
Chapel.
The reconstruction of the Upper Ward was begun in 1357 with new royal
lodgings built of stone under the direction of William of Wykeham, Bishop of
Winchester. An inner gatehouse with cylindrical towers was built at the entrance
to the Upper Ward.Stone-vaulted undercrofts supported extensive royal apartments
on the first floor with separate sets of rooms for the King and the Queen ( as
was the tradition of the English royal palaces),arranged round two inner
courtyards later known as Brick Court and Horn Court .Along the south side,
facing the quadrangle, were the Great Hall and Royal Chapel end to end. Edward
IY built the present larger St George’s Chapel to the west of Henry III’s.Henry
YII remodelled the old chapel ( now the Albert Memorial Chapel) at its east end;
he also added a new range to the west of the State Apartments which Elizabeth I
extended by a long gallery.
During the English Civil War in the mid-seventeenth century, the Castle was
seized by Parliamentary forces who ill-treated the buildings and used part of
them as a prison for Royalists.
At the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 Charles II was determined to
reinstate the old glories of the Crown after the interval of the Commonwealth.
Windsor was his favourite non-metropolitan palace and it was the only one which
could be effectively garrisoned.
The architect Hugh May was appointed in 1673 to supervise the work and over
the next eleven years the Upper Ward and State Apartments were reconstructed.
The result was both ingenious and magnificent, making the Upper Ward the most
unusual palace in baroque Europe.
The interior was a rich contrast to the austerity of the exterior and formed
the first and grandest sequence of baroque State Apartments in England.The
ceilings were painted by Antonio Verrio, an Italian artist brought from Paris by
the Duke of Montagu, Charles II’s ambassador to Louis XIY. The walls were
wainscoted in oak and festooned with brilliant virtuoso carvings by Grinling
Gibbons and Henry Phillips of fruit, flowers, fish and birds The climax of
Charles II’s reconstruction was St George’s Hall and the King’s Chapel with
murals by Verrio. In the former there were historical scenes of Edward III and
the Black Prince, as well as Charles II in Grater robes enthroned in glory, and
in the latter Christ’s miracles and the Last Supper. All were destroyed by
Wyatville inn 1829. The source of inspiration for the new rooms at Windsor was
the France of Louis XIY, but the use of wood rather than coloured marbles gave
Windsor a different character and established a fashion which was copied in many
English country houses.
William III and the early Hanoverian kings spent more time at Hampton Court than
at Windsor. Windsor, however, came back into its own in the reign of George III,
who disliked Hampton Court, which had unhappy memories for him From 1777 George
III reconstructed the Queen’s Lodge to the south of the Castle. He also restored
St George’s Chapel in the 1780s.At the same time a new state entrance and Gothic
staircase were constructed for the State Apartments.
As well as his work in the Castle, George III modernised Frogmore in the Home
Park as a retreat for his wife, Queen Charlotte, and reclaimed some of the Great
Park for agriculture. The King designed a special Windsor uniform of blue cloth
with red and gold facings, a version of which is still worn on occasions today.
The King loved the Castle and its romantic associations. In 1805 he revived the
formal ceremonies of installation of Knights of the Garter at Windsor.
When George IY inherited the throne, he shared his father’s romantic
architectural enthusiasm for Windsor and determined to continue the Gothic
transformation and the creation of convenient, comfortable and splendid new
royal apartments.
In many ways Windsor Castle enjoyed its apogee in the reign of Queen Victoria..
She spent the largest portion of every year at Windsor, and in her reign it
enjoyed the position of principal palace of the British monarchy and the focus
of the British Empire as well as nearly the whole of royal Europe. The Castle
was visited by heads of state from all over the world and was the scene of a
series of splendid state visits. On these occasions the state rooms were used
for their original purpose by royal guests. The visits of King Louis Philippe in
1844 and the Emperor Napoleon III inn 1855 were especially successful. They were
invested at Windsor with the Order of the Garter in formal ceremonies, as on
other occasions were King Victor Emanuel I of Italy and the Emperor William I of
Germany. For the most of the twentieth century Windsor Castle survived as it was
in the nineteenth century. The Queen and her family spend most of their private
weekends at the Castle.
A distinctive feature of hospitality at Windsor Castle are the invitations to
«dine and sleep» which go back to Queen Victoria’s time and encompass people
prominent in many walks of life including The Queen’s ministers. On such
occasions, The Queen shows her guests a specially chosen exhibition of treasures
from the Royal Collection.
THE GALLERY,THE CHINA MUSEUM
The central vaulted undercroft, originally created by James Wyatt and
extended in the same style by Jeffry Wyatville to serve as the principal
entrance hall to the State Apartments, was cut off when the Grand Staircase was
reoriented in the reign of Queen Victoria. It has recently been redesigned and
now houses a changing exhibition of works of art from the Royal Collection,
which include Old Master drawings from the world-famous Print Room in the Royal
Library.
The carved Ionic capitals of the columns survive from Hugh May’s alterations
for Charles II. In cases round the walls are displayed magnificent china
services from leading English and European porcelain manufacturers: Serves,
Meiden, Copenhagen, Naples, Rockingham and Worchester. These are still used for
royal banquets and other important occasions.
There are some famous paintings in Windsor Castle: Van Dyke’s «Triple Portrait
of Charles I» painted to send to Bernie in Italy to enable him to sculpture a
bust of the King; Colonel John St.Leger, a friend of the Prince Regent, by
Gainsborough;Vermeer’s portrait of a lady at the virginals; The five eldest
children of Charles I by Van Dyke; John Singleton Copley, the American artist,
painted the three youngest daughters of George III and Queen
Charlotte:Princesses Mary, Sophia and Amelia, none of whom left legitimate
descendants and The Campo SS. Giovanniie Paolo Canaletto etc.
ST GEORGE’S CHAPEL
St George’s Chapel is the spiritual home of the Prodder of the Garter,
Britain’s senior Order of Chivalry, founded by King Edward III in 1348. St
George is the patron saint of the Order.
The architecture of the Chapel ranks among the finest examples of Perpendicular
Gothic, the late medieval style of English architecture. Unlike most of the
other great churches, St George’s Chapel has its principal or «show» front on
the south , facing the Henry YIII gate and running almost the length of the
Lower Ward.
As Sovereign of the Order of the Garter, The Queen attends a service in the
Chapel in June each year, together with the Knights and Ladies of the Order.
Today thirteen Military Knights of Windsor represent the Knights of the Garter
in ST George’s Chapel at regular services. Ten sovereigns are buried in the
Chapel, as are buried in the Chapel, as are other members of the royal family,
many represented by magnificent tombs.
The Albert Memorial Chapel
The richly decorated interior is a Victorian masterpiece, created by Sir George
Gilbert Scott for Queen Victoria in 1863-73 to commemorate her husband Albert.
The vaulted ceiling is decorated in gold mosaic by Antonio Salviati. The
figures in the false west window represent sovereigns, clerics and others
associated with St George’s Chapel. The inlaid marble panels around the lower
walls depict scenes from Scripture.
This was the site of one of the Castle’s earliest chapels, built in 1240 by
King Henry III and adapted by King Edward III in the 1350s as the first chapel
of the College of St George and the Order of the Garter. When the existing St
George’s Chapel was built in 11475-15528, this small chapel fell into disuse.
Subsequent plans to turn it into a royal mausoleum came to nothing.
In 1863 Queen Victoria ordered its complete restoration and redecoration as a
temporary resting place for Prince Albert.
The Chapel is now dominated by Alfred Gilbert’s tomb of the Duke of Clarence and
Avandale who died in 1892.
The Great Park
The Great Park of Windsor, covering about 4,800 acres, has evolved out of the
Saxon and medieval hunting forest. It is connected to the Castle by an avenue of
nearly 3 miles, known as the Long Walk, planted by King Charles II in 1685 and
replanted in 1945. The Valley Gardens are open all year round.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous, historic and widely visited
churches not only in Britain but in the whole Christian world. There are other
reasons for its fame apart from its beauty and its vital role as a centre of the
Christian faith in one of the world’s most important capital cities. These
include the facts that since 1066 every sovereign apart from Edward Y and Edward
YIII has been crowned here and that for many centuries it was also the burial
place of kings, queens and princes.
The royal connections began even earlier than the present Abbey, for it was
Edward the Confessor, sometimes called the last of the English kings(1042-66)
and canonised in 1163, who established an earlier church on this site. His great
Norman Abbey was built close to his palace on Thorney Island. It was completed
in 1065 and stood surrounded by the many ancillary buildings needed by the
community of Benedictine monks who passed their lives of prayer here. Edward’s
death near the time of his Abbey’s consecration made it natural for his burial
place to be by the High Altar.
Only 200 years later, the Norman east end of the Abbey was demolished and
rebuilt on the orders of Henry III, who had a great devotion to Edward the
Confessor and wanted to honour him. The central focus of the new Abbey was a
magnificent shrine to house St Edward’s body ; the remains of this shrine,
dismantled at the Reformation but later reerected in rather a clumsy and
piecemeal way, can still be seen behind the High Altar today.
The new Abbey remained incomplete until 1376, when the rebuilding of the Nave
began; it was not finished until 150 years later, but the master masons carried
on a similar thirteenth-century Gothic, French-influenced design, as that of
Henry III’s initial work, over that period, giving the whole a beautiful harmony
of style.
In the early sixteenth century the Lady Chapel was rebuilt as the magnificent
Henry YII Chapel; with its superb fan-vaulting it is one of Westminster’s great
treasures.
In the mid-eighteenth century the last malor additions - the two western towers
designed by Hawksmoor - were made to the main fabric of the Abbey.
THE NAVE was begun by Abbot Litlington who financed the work with money left
by Cardinal Simon Langham, his predecessor, for the use of the monastery. The
master mason in charge of the work was almost certainly the great Henry Yevele.
His design depended on the extra strength given to the structure by massive
flying buttresses. These enabled the roof to be raised to a height of 102 feet.
The stonework of the vaulting has been cleaned and the bosses gilded in recent
years.
At the west end of the Nave is a magnificent window filled with stained glass
of 1735, probably designed by Sir James Thornhill (1676-1734).(He also painted
the interior of the dome in St Paul’s Cathedral} The design shows Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, with fourteen prophets, and underneath are the arms of King Sebert,
Elizabeth I, George II, Dean Wilcocks and the Collegiate Church of St Peter in
Westminster.
Also at the west end of the Nave is the grave of the Unknown Warrior. The
idea for such a memorial is said to have come from a British chaplain who
noticed, in a back garden at Armeentieeres, a grave with the simple inscription:
«An unknown British soldier». In 1920 the body of another unknown soldier was
brought back from the battlefields to be reburied in the Abbey on 11 November.
George Y and Queen Mary and many other members of the royal family attended the
service, 100 holders of the Victoria Cross lining the Nave as a Guard of Honour.
On a nearby pillar hangs the Congressional Medal, the highest award which can be
conferred by the United St ates.
From the Nave roof hang chandeliers, both giving light and in daylight
reflecting it from their hundreds of pedant crystals. They were a gift to mark
the 900th anniversary of the Abbey and are of Waterford glass.
At the east end of the Nave is the screen separating it from the Choir.
Designed by the then Surveyor, Edward Blore, in 1834, it is the fourth screen to
be placed here; the wrought-iron gates, however, remain from a previous screen.
Within recent years the screen has been painted and glided.
THE CHOIR was originally the part of the Abbey in which the monks worshipped,
but there is now no trace of the pre- Reformation fittings, for in the late
eighteenth century Kneene, the then Surveyor, removed the thirteenth-century
stalls and designed a smaller Choir. This was in turn destroyed in the
mid-nineteenth century by Edward Blore, who created the present Choir in
Victoria Gothic style and removed the partitions which until then had blocked
off the transepts
It is here that the choir of about twenty-two boys and twelve Lay Vicars sings
the daily services. The boys are educated at the Choir School attached to the
Abbey ;mention of such a school is made in the fifteenth century and it may be
even older in origin. For some centuries it was linked with Westminster School,
but became independent in the mid-nineteenth century.
The Organ was originally built by Shrider in 1730. Successive rebuildings in
1849,1884,1909,,and 1937 and extensive work in 1983 have resulted in the present
instrument.
THE SANCTUARY is the heart of the Abbey, where the High Altar stands The
altar and the reredos behind it, with a mosaic of the Last Supper, were designed
by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1867. Standing on the altar are two candlesticks, bought
with money bequeathed by a serving-maid, Sarah Hughes, in the seventeenth
century. In front of the altar, but protected by carpeting, is another of the
Abbey’s treasures - a now-very-worn pavement dating from the thirteenth century.
The method of its decoration is known as Cosmati work, after the Italian family
who developed the technique of inlaying intricate designs made up of small
pieces of coloured marble into a plain marble ground.
THE NORTH TRANSEPT, to the left of the Sanctuary, has a beautiful rose window
designed by Sir James Thornhill, showing eleven Apostles. The Transept once led
to Solomon’s Porch and now leads to the nineteenth-century North Front.
THE HENRY YII CHAPEL, beyond the apse, was begun in 1503 as a burial place
for Henry YI, on the orders of Henry YII, but it was Henry.YII himself who was
finally buried here, in an elaborate tomb. The master mason, who designed the
chapel was probably Robert Vertue his brother William constructed the vault at
St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 1505 and this experience may have helped in the
creation of the magnificent vaulting erected here a few years later.
The chapel has an apse and side aisles which are fan-vaulted, and the central
section is roofed with extraordinarily intricate and finely-detailed circular
vaulting ,embellished with more Tudor badges and with carved pendants, which is
literally breath-taking in the perfection of its beauty and artistry.
Beneath the windows, once filled with glass painted by Bernard Flower of which
only fragments now remain, are ninety-four of the original 107 statues of
saints, placed in richly embellished niches. Beneath these, in turn, hang the
banners of the living Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, whose chapel
this is. When the Order was founded in 1725, extra stalls and seats were added
to those originally provided. To the stalls are attached plates recording the
names and arms of past Knights of the Order, while under the seats can be seen
finely carved misericords.
The altar, a copy of the sixteenth-century altar incorporates two of the
original pillars and under its canopy hangs a fifteenth-century Madonna and
Child by Vivarini.
In the centre of the apse, behind the altar, stand the tomb of Henry YII and
Elizabeth of York, protected by a bronze screen. The tomb was the work of
Torrigiani and the effigies of the king and queen are finely executed in gilt
bronze.
In later years many more royal burials took place in the chapel. Mary I, her
half-sister Elizabeth I and half-brother Edward YI all lie here The Latin
inscription on thetomb - on which only Elizabeth Ist effigy rests - reads:
«Consorts both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and
Mary, in the hope of one Resurrection».
In the south asle lies Mary Queen of Scots, mother of James Yi and I, who
brought her body from Peterborough and gave her a tomb even more magnificent
than that which he had erected for his cousin Elizabeth.I.
In the same aisle lies Henry YII’s mother, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of
Richmond. Her effigy, a bronze by Torrigiani, shows her in old age. She was
known for her charitable works and for her intellect - she founded Christ’s and
St John’s Colleges at Cambridge - and these activities are recorded in the
inscription composed by Erasmus. Also in this aisle is the tomb of Margaret,
Countess of Lennox.
THE CHAPEL OF ST EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, containing his shrine, lies east of
the Sanctuary at the heart of the Abbey. It is closed off from the west by a
stone screen, probably of fifteenth-century date, carved with scenes from the
life of Edward the Confessor; it is approached from the east via a bridge from
the Henry YII Chapel.
The shrine seen today within the chapel is only a ghost of its former self.
It originally had three parts: a stone base decorated with Cosmati work, a gold
feretory containing the saint’s coffin, a canopy above which could be raised to
reveal the feretory or lowered to protect it. Votive offerings of gold and
jewels were given to enrich the feretory over the centuries. To this shrine came
many pilgrims, and the sick were frequently left beside it overnight in the hope
of a cure. All this ceased at the Reformation The shrine was dismantled and
stored by the monks; the gold feretory was taken away from them, but they were
allowed to rebury the saint elsewhere in the Abbey.
It was during the reign of Mary I that a partial restoration of the shrine
took place. The stone base was re-assembled, the coffin was placed, in the
absence of a feretory, in the top part of the stone base and the canopy
positioned on top. The Chapel has a Cosmati floor, similar to that before the
High Altar, and a blank space in the design shows where the shrine once stood;
it also indicates that the shrine was originally raised up on a platform, making
the canopy visible beyond the western screen. The canopy of the shrine has
recently been restored, and hopefully one day the rest of the shrine will also
be restored.
And within the chapel can be seen the Coronation Chair and the tombs of five
kings and four queens. At the eastern end is the tomb and Chantey Chapel of
Henry Y, embellished with carvings including scenes of Henry Y’s coronation. The
effigy of the king once had a silver head and silver regalia, and was covered in
silver regalia, and was covered in silver gilt, but this precious metal was
stolen in 1546.
Eleanor of Castle, first wife of Edward I, lies beside the Chapel. Her body
was carried to Westminster from Lincoln, a memorial cross being erected at each
place where the funeral procession rested.
Beside her lies Henry III, responsible for the rebuilding of the Abbey, in a
tomb of Purbeck marble. Next to his tomb is that of Edward I. Richard II and
Anne of Bohemia, Edward III and Philippa of Hainnault, and Catherine de Valois,
Henry Y’s Queen, also lie in this chapel.
THE SOUTH TRANSEPT is lit by a large rose window, with glass dating from 1902.
Beneath it, in the angles above the right and left arches, are two of the finest
carvings in the Abbey, depicting sensing angels. In addition to the many
monuments there are two fine late thirteen-century wall-paintings, uncovered in
1936, to be seen by the door leading into St Faith’s Chapel. They depict Christ
showing his wounds to Doubting Thomas, and St Christopher. Beside the south wall
rises the dormer staircase, once used by the monks going from their dormitory to
the Choir for their night offices.
POET’S CORNER
One of the most well-known parts of Westminster Abbey, Poet’s Corner can be
found in the south Transept. It was not originally designated as the burial
place of writers, playwrights and poets; the first poet to be buried here,
Geoffrey Chaucer, was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey because he had been
Clerk of Works to the Palace of Westminster, not because he had written the
Canterbury Tales. However, the inscription over his grave, placed there by
William Caxton - the famous printer whose press was just beyond the transept
wall - mentioned that he was a poet.
Over 150 years later, during the flowering of English literature in the
sixteenth century, a more magnificent tomb was erected to Chaucer by Nicholas
Brigham and in 1599 Edmund Spencer was laid to rest nearby. These two tombs
began a tradition which developed over succeeding centuries.
Burial or commemoration in the abbey did not always occur at or soon after the
time of death - many of those whose monuments now stand here had to wait a
number of years for recognition; Byron, for example, whose lifestyle caused a
scandal although his poetry was much admired, died in 1824 but was finally given
a memorial only in 1969. Even Shakespeare, buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in
1616, had to wait until 1740 before a monument, designed by William Kent,
appeared in Poet’s Corner. Other poets and writers, well-known in their own day,
have now vanished into obscurity, with only their monuments to show that they
were once famous.
Conversely, many whose writings are still appreciated today have never been
memorialised in Poet’s Corner, although the reason may not always be clear.
Therefore a resting place or memorial in Poet’s Corner should perhaps not be
seen as a final statement of a writer or poet’s literary worth, but more as a
reflection of their public standing at the time of death - or as an indication
of the fickleness of Fate.
Some of the most famous to lie here, in addition to those detailed on the
next two pages include BenJonson, John Dryden, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Robert
Browning and John Masefield, among the poets, and William Camden, Dr Samuel
Johnson, Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Richard Brinsley
Sheridan, Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy among the writers.
Charles Dickens’s grave attracts particular interest. As a writer who drew
attention to the hardships born by the socially deprived and who advocated the
abolition of the slave trade, he won enduring fame and gratitude and today, more
than 110 years later, a wreath is still laid on his tomb on the anniversary of
his death each year.
Those who have memorials here, although they are buried elsewhere, include
among the poets John Milton, William Wordworth, Thomas Gray, John Keats, Percy
Bysshe Shelley, Robert Burns, William Blake, T.S. Eliot and among the writers
Samuel Butler, Jane Austen, Oliver Goldsmith, Sir Walter Scott, John Ruskin,
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte and Henry James.
By no means all those buried in the South Transept are poets or writers,
however. Several of Westminster’s former Deans, Archdeacons, Prebendaries and
Canons lie here, as do John Keble, the historian Lord Macaulay, actors David
Garrick, Sir Henry Irving and Mrs Hannah Pritchard, and, among many others,
Thomas Parr, who was said to be 152 years of age when he died in 1635, having
seen ten sovereigns on the throne during his long life.
CORONATIONS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Coronation have taken place at Westminster since at least 1066, when William
the Conqueror arrived in London after his victory at the battle of Hastings.
Whether or not Harold, his predecessor as monarch, had been crowned in Edward
the Confessor’s Abbey is uncertain - coronations do not seem to have had a fixed
location before 1066, though several monarchs were crowned at
Kingston-upon-Thames, where the King’s Stone still exists - but William was
determined to reinforce his victory, which gave him the right to rule by
conquest, with the sacred hallowing of his sovereignty which the coronation
ceremony would give him. He was crowned in the old Abbey - then recently
completed and housing Edward the Confessor’s body- on Christmas Day 1066.
The service to-day has four parts: first comes the Introduction ,consisting
of: the entry of the Sovereign into the Abbey; the formal recognition of the
right of the Sovereign to rule - when the Archbishop presents the Sovereign to
the congregation and asks them if they agree to the service proceeding, and they
respond with an assent; the oath, when the Sovereign promises to respect and
govern in accordance with the lows of his or her subjects and to uphold the
Protestant reformed Church of England and Scotland; and the presentation of the
Bible to the Sovereign, to be relied on as the source of all wisdom and low.
Secondly, the Sovereign is anointed with holy oil, seated on the Coronation
Chair. Thirdly, the Sovereign is invested with the royal robes and insignia,
then crowned with St Edward’s crown. The final ceremony consists of the
enthronement of the Sovereign on a throne placed on a raised platform, bringing
him or her into full view of the assembled company for the first time, and there
he or she receives the homage of the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal and the
congregation, representing the people of the realm.
The service has changed little - English replaced Latin as the main language
used during the ceremony following Elizabeth Ist coronation, and from 1689
onwards the coronation ceremony has been set within a service of Holy Communion
although indeed this was a return to ancient custom rather than the creation of
a new precedent).
Coronations have not always followed an identical pattern. Edward YI, for
example, was crowned no less than three times, with three different crowns
placed in turn upon his head; while at Charles I’s coronation there was a
misunderstanding and, instead of the congregational assent following the
Recognition Question, there was dead silence, the congregation having finally to
be told to respond - an ill omen for the future, as it turned out. Charles II’s
coronation, following on the greyness of the puritan Commonwealth, was a scene
of brilliant colour and great splendour. As the old regalia had been destroyed,
replacements were made for the ceremony, and the clergy were robed in rich red
copes - the same copes are still used in the Abbey.
George IY saw his coronation as an opportunity for a great theatrical
spectacle and spent vast sums of money on it. He wore an auburn wig with
ringlets, with a huge plumed hat on top, and designed his own robes for the
procession into the Abbey. After the coronation, because Queen Caroline had been
forcibly excluded from the ceremony, the crowds in the streets were extremely
hostile to him and he had to return to Carlton House by an alternative route.
In complete contrast, William IY took a lot of persuading before he would
agree to have a coronation at all, and the least possible amount of money was
spent no it - giving it the name the «penny coronation». Despite his dislike of
extravagant show and ceremony, he still brought a slightly theatrical touch to
the scene by living up to his nickname of the «sailor king» and appearing , when
disrobed for the Anointing, in the full-dress uniform of an Admiral of the
Fleet.
The last three coronations have demonstrated continuing respect for the
religious significance of the ceremony and recognition of the importance of such
a public declaration by Sovereign of his or her personal dedication to the
service of the people.
At the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 , for the first time the
service was televised and millions of her subjects could see and hear the
ceremony taking place. It is possible that few watching realised just how far
back into history the roots of that historic ceremony starched, and how little
fundamental change had occurred over the centuries.
LIST OF WORDS
mention óïîìèíàíèå
stock õðàíèëèùå
masterpiece øåäåâð
mankind ÷åëîâå÷åñòâî
satisfy óäîâëåòâîðÿòü
aesthetic ýñòåòè÷åñêèé
to be in touch with áûòü â êîíòàêòå ñ
script ðóêîïèñü
humdrum ñóåòà
acquire îáðåòàòü
rank among áûòü â ðÿäó ñ
tàke up ïîãëîùàòü
stretch ïðîñòèðàòüñÿ
arrangement ðàñïîëîæåíèå
fabulous ñêàçî÷íûé
span ìèã, ïðîëåò
applied art ïðèêëàäíîå èñêóññòâî
enamel ýìàëü
lace êðóæåâî
ivory ñëîíîâàÿ êîñòü
excavation ðàñêîïêè
scope ðàçìàõ
accessible äîñòóïíûé
merchant êóïåö
purchase ïîêóïêà
favourable áëàãîïðèÿòíûé
due to the care áëàãîäàðÿ çàáîòå
fill up çàïîëíÿòü
gap ïðîáåë
deficiencies íåäîñòàòîê
accumulation íàêîïëåíèå
at smb’s disposal â ÷üåì-ëèáî ðàñïîðÿæåíèè
portraiture ïîðòðåòíàÿ æèâîïèñü
landscape ïåéçàæ
potteryware ôàðôîð
possess îáëàäàòü
vanquish ïðåîäîëåâàòü
presumably âåðîÿòíî
gain ïîëó÷àòü
vividness î÷åâèäíîñòü
merge ãðàíè÷èòü
ascribe ïðèïèñûâàòü
reflect îòðàæàòü
spirit äóõ
permanent ïîñòîÿííûé
rapidly áûñòðî
intrinsic ïðèñóùèé
amass ñîáèðàòü
hereby ïðè ñåì
distinctive î÷åâèäíûé
intend íàìåðåâàòüñÿ
palatial äâîðöîâûé
carry out îñóùåñòâëÿòü
substitute çàìåíÿòü
scheme ñõåìà
throng òðîí
lavish ùåäðûé
wing êðûëî
lay out ðàñïîëàãàòü
ill-fated íåñ÷àñòëèâûé
attempt ïîïûòêà
mulberry tree øåëêîâèöà
dignity äîñòîèíñòâî
suitor ïîêëîííèê
eccentrisity ýêñöåíòðè÷íîñòü
remedy ëåêàðñòâî
chain of fortification öåïü óêðåïëåíèé
access äîñòóï
proximity áëèçîñòü
timber ñòðîåâîé ëåñ
alteration ïåðåìåíà, èçìåíåíèå
improvement óëó÷øåíèå
reddent of chivalry íîñèòåëü ðûöàðñòâà
non-metropolitan íåñòîëè÷íûé
austerity ñòðîãîñòü
sequence ïîñëåäîâàòåëüíîñòü
wainscot îáøèâêà
inspiration âäîõíîâåíèå
marble ìðàìîð
association àññîöèàöèÿ
inherit íàñëåäîâàòü
apogee àïîãåé
reorient ïåðåîðèåíòèðîâàòü
legitimate çàêîííûé
descendant ïîòîìîê
spiritual äóõîâíûé
inlaid èíêðóñòèðîâàííûé
depict îïèñûâàòü, îòðàæàòü
disuse íåóïîòðåáëåíèå subsequent ïîñëåäîâàòåëüíûé
monk ìîíàõ
consecration ïîñâÿùåíèå
burial ïîãðåáåíèå
demolish ðàçðóøàòü
shrine õðàì
reerect ïåðåñòðîèòü
clumsy íåóêëþæèé
fan-vaulting âååðíûé ñâîä
predecessor ïðåäøåñòâåííèê
buttress îïîðà
underneath ïîä
grave ìîãèëà
chaplain êàïåëëàí
confer ïðèñóæäàòü
bequeath çàâåùàòü
intricate ñëîæíûé
embelish óêðàøàòü
effigy ïîðòðåò
regalia ðåãàëèÿ
depict îòðàæàòü
dormitory ñïàëüíÿ
commemoration ïàìÿòü
occur at èìåòü ìåñòî â
vanished èñ÷åçíóâøèé
obsqurity ïðåïÿòñòâèå
deprive ëèøàòü
abolition óíè÷òîæåíèå
reinforce óêðåïëÿòü
conquest çàâîåâàíèå
sovereignty ìîíàðõèÿ
accordance ñîîòâåòñòâèå
insignia çíàêè ðàçëè÷èÿ
congregation îáùèíà
realm âëàñòü
EXERCISES
I. Choose the correct definition to the following:
1. take up a) careful study or investigation, esp.in order to
discover nnew facts or information
2. due to sth or sb b)to become or make sth completely full
3. fill up c)to fill or occupy an amount of space or time
4. research on d)caused by sth,sb; because of sth,sb.
5. carry out e)to do sth,as required or specified; to fulfil sth.
Exercise II. Make all the changes necessary to produce five sentences:
I. /The collections/ are distributed/ and/ possessed/ by/ among/ departments/
over forty/ exhibition/ the museum/ its/ permanent/ seven/.
2. /An important/ the museum/ part/ is taken by/ collection/ among/ the
numismatic/ possessions/.
3./The aquisitionn of complete/of individual works/ in the 19th/ the previous/
century/ period/ was continued/ but/ collections/ of art/ and/ on a more modest
scale/ during/ than/.
4. /The Hermitage/ section/ of the very/ on the Continent/ contains/ for /
pictures/ is/ which/ a special/ few/ English/ one/.
5. /Joshua Reynolds/ all/ in/ by/ is/ 1780s/ represented/ the/ canvases/
painted/ four/.
Exercise III.Fill in the blanks with the following pronouns:
in of from on by
1. The collection has no paintings __ William Hogarth, but some __ his prints
selected ___ a large and representative collection possessed __ the Museum are
usually ___ show.
2. The State Hermitage __ St Petersburg ranks among the world’s most outstanding
art museums.
3. The Museum numbers among its treasures monuments __ ancient Greece and Rome
and those__ the Greek settlements __ the North coast __ the Black Sea.
4. Most helpful __ the Museum’s research work is the Hermitage Library.
5. It is open to every student __ art.
6. A number __ 17th -18th century works are __ show too.
EXERCISES
Exercise I. Choose the correct sentence:
1. a/ The Tretiakov Gallery was founded by a Russian painter - Tretiakov.
b/The Tretiakov Gallery was founded by a Moscow merchant and art patron -
Tretiakov.
2. a/The Gallery’s centenary was widely celebrated throughout Russia in June
1956.
b/The Gallery’s centenary was widely celebrated throughout Russia in May 1856.
3. a/The Gallery’s collection has grown considerably in the years since the
Revolution.
b/The Gallery’s collection has not grown since the Revolution.
4. a/The early Russian Art department and the collections of sculpture and
drawings were constant.
b/The early Rassian Art department and the collections of scylpture and drawings
were enlarged.
5. a/Tretiakov spent his life collecting the works of Russian painters.
b/Tretiakov spent 10 years collecting the works of Russiann painters.
Exercise II. Read the informatuion about the Tretiakov Gallery and answer the
following questions:
I. Is the Tretiakov Gallery one of the best-known picture galleries of the
world? Why?
2.What do you know about the history of the Tretiakov Gallery?
3.Who was it founded by?
4.When and how did Tretiakov begin his collection?
5.Did he collect antique icons?
6.He was on friendly terms with many progressive, democratic Russian painters,
wasn’t he?
7.Why did his collection grow rapidly?
8.What pictures do you know from the Tretiakov Gallery?
9.What do you know about the Tretiakov Gallery’s collection of «Peredvizniki»?
10.What were the first pictures of Tretiakov’s collection?
EXERCISES
Exercise I. Choose the correct word to complete the sentence:
1. Buckingham Palace is the official /residence,home/ of the Her Majesty The
Queen.
2. The Queen’s House was gradually /ruined, modernised/.
3. John Nash had rightly /predicted,promised/ that the Palace would prove too
small, but this was a fault capable of remedy.
4. In 1847 the architect Edward Blore /added, took away/ the East front.
5. It /isn’t, is/ the centre of a large office complex.
6. The business of monarchy /sometimes, never/ stops.
7. Buckingham Palace became the /administrative, juriditial/ centre of the
monarchy.
8. Buckingham Palace /is, was/ built for Jihn, first Duke of Buckingham, between
1702 and 1705.
9. The director of the Royal Collection is /responsible, look after/ for one of
the finest collections of works of art in the world.
10. The Royal collection is a vast assemblage of works of art of all /sizes,
kinds/
Exercise II. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions
and use them in your own sentences:
1.potent symbols 2.carry out 3.suitor 4.predict 5.coronation
6.ill-fated 7.dignity 8.eccentricity 9.accredit 10.require
EXERCISES
Exercise I. True or false?
1. Windsor Castle is the youngest royal residence.
2. The Castle covers an area of nearly 30 acres.
3. The Castle was founded by William the Conqueror in 1080.
4. Norman castles were built to a special plan.
5. Queen Victoria spent the smallest part of a year at Windsor.
6. St George’s Chapel is the spiritual home of of the Prodder of the
Garter,Britain’s senior Order of Chivalry.
7. Windsor is only the place of beauty without any functions.
8. St George is the patron saint of the Order.
9. The Valley Gardens are open only in summer.
10. The vaulted ceiling of the Albert Memorial Chapel is decorated in gold
mosaic by Antonio Salviati.
Exercise II. Fill in the blanks with the correct tense forms of the verbs in
brackets:
In many ways Windsor Castle ____(enjoy) its apogee in the reign of Queen
Victoria. She ____ (spend) the largest portion of every year at Windsor, and in
her reign it ____(enjoy) the position of principal palace of the British
monarchy and the focus of the British Empire as well as nearly the whole of the
royal Europe. The Castle____(visit) by heads of state from all over the world
and ___(be) the scene of a series of splendid state ____ (use) for their
original purpose by royal guests.
Exercise III.
Retell the text about St George’s Chapel using the following:
spiritual home; founded by; medieval style; to bury; represented by.
EXERCISES
Exercise I. Give Russian equivalents to the following words and expressions
from
the text about Westminster Abbey and use them in sentences of your own:
1.reerect 2. clumsy 3.grave 4. intricate 5.the domer staircase 6.
Commemoration 7.
abolition 8. conquest 9. congregation 10. an auburn wig
Exercise II. Fill in the blanks with the following prepositions:
of on from for by
1.Westminster Abbey is one __ the most famous, historic and widely visited
churches not only ___ Britain but ___ the whole Christian world.
2.___ 1920 the body ___ another unknown soldier was brought back ___ the
battlefields to be reburied ___ the Abbey ___ 11 November.
3.The Henry YII Chapel, beyond the apse, was begun ___ 1503 as a bural place ___
Henry YII, ___ the orders ___ Henry YII, but it was Henry YII himself who was
finally buried here, ___ an elaborate tomb.
4.At the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II ___1953 ,___ the first time the
service was televised and millions ___ her subjects could see and hear the
ceremony taking place.
5.The last three coronations have demonstrated continuing respect ___ the
religious significance ___ ceremony and recognition ___ the importance ___ such
a public declaration ___ sovereign ___ his or her personal dedication to the
service ___ the people.
Exercise III. Answer the following questions:
1.Why is Westminster Abbey so popular not only in Britain but in the whole
world?
2.When was the Lady Chapel rebuilt as the magnificent Henry YII Chapel?
3.The Nave was begun by Abbot Litlington, wasn’t it?
4.What was originally the part of the Abbey where the monks worshiped?
5.Where does the High Altar stand?
6.Who was the first poet buried in the Abbey?
7.What do you know about processes of coronation today?
8.Have coronations always followed an identical pattern?
9.Who was crowened no less than three times?
10.What was special in the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II?
WORLD’S PAINTERS
Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519, an Italian painter
Manet 1832-1883, a French painter
Michelangelo 1475-1564, an Italian sculptor,painter,poet
Millet 1814-1875, a French painter
Monet 1840-1926, a French painter
Murillo 1617-1682, a Spanish painter
Phidias 5th cent.BC, a Greek sculptor
Pissaro 1830-1903, a French painter
Potter 1625-1654, a Dutch painter
Raphael 1483-1520, an Italian painter
Rembrandt 1606-1669, a Dutch painter
Reynolds 1841-1919, an English painter
Roerich 1874-1947, a Russian painter
Rubens 1577-1640, a Flemish painter
Sargent 1856-1925, an American painter
Scott,Gilbert 1811-1878, an English architect
Show, Norman 1831-1912, an English architect
Titan 1477-1576, an Italian painter
Turner 1775-1881,an English landscape painter
Van Der Helst 1613-1676, a Dutch portrait painter
Van Gogh 1853-1890, a Dutch painter
Vasari 1511-1571, an Italian painter and art historian
Velasques 1599-1660, a Spanish painter
Whistler 1834-1903, an American painter
Zurbaran 1598-1662, a Spanish painter
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