Tenacious Anne

The Great Picture

Great pictures can come in all manner of shape and size.  What makes it great?  That definition is truly in the mind of the viewer, being that art appeals to everyone on different levels.  For myself, and this blog, there has to be more; history, villainy, obstacles overcome, the thread that weaves the Great Picture into the fabric of more than one instance.  I love finding these nuggets of time, studying the events and digesting the information for my readers.

Let Uther Pendragon do what he can

The Eden will run where the Eden ran.

This unusual triptych, commissioned by Lady Anne Clifford in 1646, celebrates a long battle that was settled through sheer determination, fortitude and the death of others.  The family estates, willed by her father, George Clifford, to his brother in 1605, were to revert to Anne only if the male line should fail.  Anne was George’s only surviving child.  In a tenacious battle, Anne fought to gain control of the estates, falling out with two husbands and resisting an order to relinquish her claim from King James himself.  Both of her husbands had to good grace to die long before she did, thus adding by degrees to her wealth.

The artist Jan van Belcamp painted The Great Picture to the Lady’s own design and specification, depicting three points in her life.  The left panel of the triptych shows Anne at age 15, the year her father died.  The central section depicts her parents and her two younger brothers that died in childhood.  The final panel is Anne at age 56, Countess of Pembroke, Dorset and Montgomery, standing in front of portraits of her husbands.  This final stage of the drama takes place when she finally gained her northwestern inheritance.

Though she did not succeed in asserting herself over her male relatives in their lifetime, Anne outlived them all, making her mark as a patron of charitable causes and as a family historian.  Her close relationship with her mother partly accounts for her dogged self-belief and formidable character.  Lady Clifford erected a monument to her mother’s memory on the spot where they last said goodbye in 1616.  The monument, erected in 1656, is located near Penrith, England.

Countess Pillar

One of the properties in this contested portfolio is Pendragon Castle.   According to legend, Uther Pendragon and a hundred of his men were killed here when the Saxon invaders poisoned the well.  The castle was attacked twice by the Scots, in 1360 and 1541, leaving it in a ruinous state, until extensively repaired in 1660 by Lady Anne.  She added a brewhouse, a bakehouse, stables and coach house.  It remained one of her favorite properties until her death in 1676.

Pendragon Castle

View from Pendragon Castle

Lady Anne’s successor, the Earl of Thanet, had no use for the castle and removed everything of value, including the lead for the roof.  By 1770 the second story had collapsed and gradual decay furthered the building to become the romantic ruin seen today.

Lady Anne Clifford 1590-1676

This little vignette of history is just a small entry, with many, many more to be offered on these pages.  Do you have a favorite story of history?  I look forward to chatting with you about the microcosms of history where you find inspiration!

Cheers,
Mary Jo

Cabinet of Curiosities

At the end of every research week I have an assortment of interesting bits I find on the web, but have nowhere to share them. Creating this small post gives me a depository for extra information that I can share with my readers.

Mary Jo Gibson, This Write Life

July 8, 2011

Does the thought of the Grand Tour fascinate you?  The idea began in the 17th century, gaining popularity throughout the 18th and 19th century and continuing through today as a popular reference for travelers.  First considered a mobile finishing school in art and manners, practiced by royalty and aristocratic families with an enthusiasm for travel; the benefits of elevated social status and educational enhancement were considered a pedigree of ‘good breeding’ from new cultural experiences and adventures.

The greatest site I have found on the World Wide Web so far; Imago Urbis: Giuseppe Vasi’s Grand Tour of Rome; bringing two completely unrelated time periods into one comparative tour.  From the grand master of Roman topography, Giambattista Nolli, who published the first accurate map of Rome, and Giuseppe Vasi, whose documentation of the city and its monuments inspired famous Europeans such as Byron and Shelley to take the “grand tour.”

Over 240 of Vasi’s topographic prints are presented in detail and in relationship to Nolli’s map.  Their work and methods are interpreted through analysis of the artistic and historic context.  With photographs of the current appearance of the sites, the text gives detailed historical content, record of buildings, street names, architect, dates and demolition histories of the area.  The three half-buried columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux at the Chiesa di S. Maria Liberatrice, includes descriptions of a cattle trough where three jets of water pour into a circular basin.

All the background information is available on one page, this is a rare find for anyone wanting to view history in contrast with the current day.  This site is sponsored by the University of Oregon, and funded by the generosity of the Getty Foundation.  I am grateful to the Getty for connecting me to their prodigious online archive, and have a plethora of things to share with you; most notably, a mirificent cabinet of curiosities that will have a featured page in my next cabinet column.

Stamps-tiny pieces of art

A new set of stamps has been released honoring pioneers of American Industrial Design.

Unable to make careers in the fine arts, this group turned to industrial design as a way to make a living.  Many were previously set and costume designers, involved in the advertising profession or window display.  Industrial design emerged from the 1920′ and 30′s, when manufacturing turned to designers in order to create products with a modern look.  After WWII products were mass produced and designers experimented with new materials, plastic, vinyl, chrome, aluminum, plywood, also reducing the price and providing wider availability.

The stamps honor Peter Muller Munk, Frederick Hurten Rhead, Raymond Loewy, Donal Deskey, Walter Dorwin Teague, Henry Dreyfus, Norman Bel Geddes, Dave Chapman, Greta von Nessan, Eliot Noyes, Russel Wright, and Gilbert Rohde.

Related artifacts can be found in the Cooper Hewitt collection, where the dedication ceremony of the new stamps took place. Rhead’s Fiesta ware, cameras designed by Teague who worked with the Eastman Kodak company; dinnerware designed by Loewy for the Concorde airliner; drawings and examples of flatware from Wright; drawings for John Deere tractors and models of Bell telephones by Dreyfus.  The Cooper Hewitt also holds the archives of Henry Dreyfuss and Donald Deskey.

Dutch and Flemish Masterworks

The de Young Fine Arts Museum has a new collection opening this weekend “Dutch and Flemish Masterworks.”  On their website is a great timeline to refresh your 17th century historical facts.  From 1600 when wigs and dress trains became fashionable and Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, the founding of the first university in North America, Harvard College, to the year ice cream became a popular dessert in Paris.  All interspersed with highlights of this collection, Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt van Rijn, painting during the era when William Henry announced the discovery of the circulation of blood.

Furniture as Art

Art Babble will introduce you to a French writing desk, but this is not an ordinary piece of furniture.  A video from the Getty Museum shows how a small table could be transformed through mechanical ingenuity with just the turn of a key opening many drawers and compartments.  The 3-D visuals and intricate design of the table make it a true work of art to engage all the senses.  Imagine what could be hidden away in this small piece of furniture, waiting to be found.

Renaissance Men on Television

Peabody Award winner, Emmy winner, Grammy winner, free Pepsi winner, but is Steven Colbert truly a renaissance man?  Or does he have only puissant skills?  Steven Colbert and James Franco expostulate on the lower common denominators, and true aesthetic moments.  Enjoy clips from the Colbert Report and a deep Tolkien discussion.

That is all for this week’s Cabinet of Curiosities!  Join me for Museum Monday when I will be taking a virtual tour of the Timken Museum of Balboa Park, San Diego, CA.  Suggested by one my readers Elle B, author of the Late Bloomer blog.  If you know of any great items for the Cabinet, please mention them in the comments below.

Cheers!

Mary Jo