I've been to London once before, but never had the time to make it to the British Museum. The collection takes several hours to go through, as there are so many masterpieces in every section. A lot of the objects, for example, the Egyptian mummies or marble panels from the Parthenon in Greece, were acquired under shady circumstances back in the day. This has caused a heated debate in today's world as to whether or not these things should be repatriated to their country of origin. I have always been one to argue against this, as this demand can easily create a slippery slope. If everything were returned to its site of origin, for example, then the only place to see Italian art would be Italy, French art in France, and so on. However, this museum contains so many things, and still, even today, carries such an overtone of blatant Imperialism, that I found myself changing my opinion as I went through the galleries. Perhaps they don't need to return everything, but certainly they could part with quite a lot and still have a world-famous collection.
Outside the museum
A familiar site across the street! With no Sbux in Italy, it has been ages since I've seen one.
The main entrance
Inside, the grand hall
Just beyond the main entrance is a room with modern/contemporary works of art, and this caught my eye. It's an installation of all the medicine consumed by a British couple, now deceased. It begins with their immunizations at birth, and continues until each of their deaths. Each little pocket in the cloth contains a pill. I put in an arrow towards the top of the picture to show where the table ends, to give a sense of the scale.
A closeup. It really makes one think about how many pills we take.
Even closer, with handwritten commentary about the couple's health
A page from the Book of the Dead, in the Egyptian galleries
Intricate bead work
There are probably 75 mummies and/or tombs within these galleries. After looking at several, one begins to question the role of a museum for objects such as these. A mummy like this was never meant to be seen by the living, and yet here it is on public display. Is it disrespectful to this culture, to display their sacred objects this way? On the other hand, if they weren't displayed, would we ever know about the sophistication of Ancient Egypt? This is not a new debate, but something that should be constantly considered when collecting objects.
Piles and piles of ancient coins, from all different civilizations. The way most of them were displayed, in piles such as this, really made me consider that some objects should be repatriated. The museum has so many coins!! And it is difficult to even really see them, as they are displayed in piles to demonstrate the vast quantity, rather than the designs on each side.
Certainly the BM could keep the majority of the coins, but they could also donate a few to locations around the world. Likewise, I feel the coings should be displayed properly, mounted on the obverse and reverse so that the viewer can actually see the designs.
I mean seriously! I was pretty ticked off by the time I came to this display. These coins look like they were just thrown in the case as if to say, "look at all the coins we have!!"
Okay, enough of my ranting about coins. This helmet is from an excavation known as Sutton Hoo, given the site of its discovery. These objects are from the early Anglo-Saxon nomadic peoples, dating to the 5th and 6th centuries.
A purse cover of gold and precious stones, also from Sutton Hoo. The white plastic in the background is a modern imitation of what the original leather may have looked like.
Golden belt buckle from Sutton Hoo. It's hard to see here, but the scroll work is not arbitrary, but actually the very precise and organized intertwining bodies of two snakes.
View from the side. The buckle is almost solid gold and weighs about one pound. Imagine wearing that on your waist!
This ivory carving is a major work taught in Introductory Art History classes, as it is one of the earliest known depictions of the Crucifixion. It's ivory, and really small, about 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. It's really precious in person!
The following three objects are small reliquary pendants, or lockets, designed to hold a relic and be worn around the neck. I wrote a paper on these three examples in my first year of graduate school, so I was happily surprised when I saw them.
They're tiny, about an inch or so in size
This is another famous introductory object for art history. A fabulous example of ancient Greek vase painting, showing two soldiers at rest.
Of course no collection is complete without an Italian ding-dong chime! These were quite prevalent in the ancient world, especially in Rome and Pompeii, as it was thought that a large phallus would bring good luck.
The crowd surrounding the Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone itself
Here are the other prized possessions of the museum, also obtained under circumstances that we would now consider illegal. These are the carved marble reliefs from the Parthenon in Athens.
A close up of one of the reliefs. They are truly masterpieces of antique sculpture.
A group known as the Three Goddesses, again, from the exterior of the Parthenon
The reconstruction of the Nereid Monument from Western Turkey, dating to the 3rd century BC
A closeup of one of the Nereids, and a beautiful example of a style of carved drapery known as 'Phidean', wherein the drapery looks wet as it clings to the body
View of the courtyard as I left the museum
Afterwards I hit up Oxford street for a little shopping
Had to get a picture of myself with a Starbucks red cup!
Outside the museum
A familiar site across the street! With no Sbux in Italy, it has been ages since I've seen one.
The main entrance
Inside, the grand hall
Just beyond the main entrance is a room with modern/contemporary works of art, and this caught my eye. It's an installation of all the medicine consumed by a British couple, now deceased. It begins with their immunizations at birth, and continues until each of their deaths. Each little pocket in the cloth contains a pill. I put in an arrow towards the top of the picture to show where the table ends, to give a sense of the scale.
A closeup. It really makes one think about how many pills we take.
Even closer, with handwritten commentary about the couple's health
A page from the Book of the Dead, in the Egyptian galleries
Intricate bead work
There are probably 75 mummies and/or tombs within these galleries. After looking at several, one begins to question the role of a museum for objects such as these. A mummy like this was never meant to be seen by the living, and yet here it is on public display. Is it disrespectful to this culture, to display their sacred objects this way? On the other hand, if they weren't displayed, would we ever know about the sophistication of Ancient Egypt? This is not a new debate, but something that should be constantly considered when collecting objects.
Piles and piles of ancient coins, from all different civilizations. The way most of them were displayed, in piles such as this, really made me consider that some objects should be repatriated. The museum has so many coins!! And it is difficult to even really see them, as they are displayed in piles to demonstrate the vast quantity, rather than the designs on each side.
Certainly the BM could keep the majority of the coins, but they could also donate a few to locations around the world. Likewise, I feel the coings should be displayed properly, mounted on the obverse and reverse so that the viewer can actually see the designs.
I mean seriously! I was pretty ticked off by the time I came to this display. These coins look like they were just thrown in the case as if to say, "look at all the coins we have!!"
Okay, enough of my ranting about coins. This helmet is from an excavation known as Sutton Hoo, given the site of its discovery. These objects are from the early Anglo-Saxon nomadic peoples, dating to the 5th and 6th centuries.
A purse cover of gold and precious stones, also from Sutton Hoo. The white plastic in the background is a modern imitation of what the original leather may have looked like.
Golden belt buckle from Sutton Hoo. It's hard to see here, but the scroll work is not arbitrary, but actually the very precise and organized intertwining bodies of two snakes.
View from the side. The buckle is almost solid gold and weighs about one pound. Imagine wearing that on your waist!
This ivory carving is a major work taught in Introductory Art History classes, as it is one of the earliest known depictions of the Crucifixion. It's ivory, and really small, about 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. It's really precious in person!
The following three objects are small reliquary pendants, or lockets, designed to hold a relic and be worn around the neck. I wrote a paper on these three examples in my first year of graduate school, so I was happily surprised when I saw them.
They're tiny, about an inch or so in size
This is another famous introductory object for art history. A fabulous example of ancient Greek vase painting, showing two soldiers at rest.
Of course no collection is complete without an Italian ding-dong chime! These were quite prevalent in the ancient world, especially in Rome and Pompeii, as it was thought that a large phallus would bring good luck.
The crowd surrounding the Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone itself
Here are the other prized possessions of the museum, also obtained under circumstances that we would now consider illegal. These are the carved marble reliefs from the Parthenon in Athens.
A close up of one of the reliefs. They are truly masterpieces of antique sculpture.
A group known as the Three Goddesses, again, from the exterior of the Parthenon
The reconstruction of the Nereid Monument from Western Turkey, dating to the 3rd century BC
A closeup of one of the Nereids, and a beautiful example of a style of carved drapery known as 'Phidean', wherein the drapery looks wet as it clings to the body
View of the courtyard as I left the museum
Afterwards I hit up Oxford street for a little shopping
Had to get a picture of myself with a Starbucks red cup!
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