400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death

10 iconic London film locations…9. A chapel of many faces…

by exploringlondon

There’s an ancient church in London which has taken on the role of various other cathedrals and churches in many recent historic films, most notably in the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love (a fitting reference this week, given the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death last weekend).

St-BartsBut the church – location of the scene in the film in which Shakespeare’s begs forgiveness after the death of Kit Marlowe – has also been seen in everything from the 1991 Kevin Costner-vehicle, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (where it represented the interior of Nottingham Cathedral) to Guy Ritchie’s 2009 film Sherlock Holmes (where it represented St Paul’s Cathedral, location of a ritual sacrifice being conducted by the evil Lord Blackwood).

It has also appeared in the 1996 Victorian-era drama Jude, 2006’s Amazing Grace – the story of William Wilberforce’s effort to combat the slave trade, 2007’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age (where it hosts the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots), 2008’s The Other Boleyn Girl, and the 2012 fantasy epic, Snow White and the Huntsman.

Oh, and the church? The priory church of St Bartholomew The Great (St Bart’s) located in West Smithfield, which has a history dating back 900 years (for more on the history of the church, see our earlier post here).

But the church hasn’t just been seen in films of the historic genre – it’s also played roles in more contemporary movies as well, from 1994’s Four Weddings and Funeral (St Julian’s where a wedding doesn’t take place) to 1999’s The End of the Affair and, more recently, the 2014 film Muppets: Most Wanted.

It’s doubtful there’s a church interior in London that’s been in so many movies in recent times. For more on the church itself, see www.greatstbarts.com.

This Week in London – Botticelli at the V&A; Shakespeare recalled in free sound and light show; and, ‘punk’ captured on film…

by exploringlondon

Venus• A major new exhibition opening at the V&A this Saturday will feature more than 150 works from around the world in a display exploring how artists and designers have responded to the artistic legacy of Botticelli. Italian artist Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was largely forgotten for more than 300 years after his death but is now widely recognised as one of the greatest artists of all time. Botticelli Reimagined features painting, fashion, film, drawing, photography, tapestry, sculpture and print with works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, René Magritte, Elsa Schiaparelli, Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman. The exhibition is divided into three sections: ‘Global, Modern, Contemporary’, ‘Rediscovery’, and ‘Botticelli in his own Time’. Runs until 3rd July. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk/Botticelli. PICTURE: Venus, after Botticelli by Yin Xin (2008). Private collection, courtesy Duhamel Fine Art, Paris. (Name of artist corrected)

• The historic facade of Guildhall in the City of London will become a canvas for a free son et lumiére show on Friday and Saturday nights to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. The display, which runs on a 20 minute loop between 6.45pm and 8.45pm, will feature period images and music from the City’s extensive archives and use 3D projection mapping techniques to transform the Dance Porch of the 15th century building. The Guildhall Art Gallery will be open from 6pm to 9pm and, as well as allowing people to view a property deed for a house in Blackfriars which was signed by the Bard, will feature a pop-up bar with a Shakespeare-themed cocktail. For more on this and other events, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/shakespeare400.

• The 40th anniversary of punk is the subject of a new photographic exhibition drawn from the archives of world renowned music photographer and rockarchive.com founder Jill Furmanovsky which opened at the City of London Corporation’s Barbican Music Library this week. Chunk of Punk, which runs until 28th April, features many of Furmanovsky’s well-known punk-related images as well as hitherto unseen pictures with The Ramones, Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, The Undertones, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Blondie and Iggy Pop among the bands featured. The exhibition forms part of Punk.London: 40 Years of Subversive Culture. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk.

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This Week in London – Charlotte Bronte celebrated; A Right Royal Buzz; iconic London etching revisited; and, Delacroix at the National Gallery…

by exploringlondon

Charlotte-Bronte• Paintings and drawings by Charlotte Bronte, the first of famous “little books” she ever made, and a pair of her ankle boots worn will go on show at the National Portrait Gallery on Monday. Celebrating Charlotte Bronte 1816-1855 is being held to mark the 200th anniversary of the author’s birth and features 26 items loaned from the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth. As well as portraits from the gallery’s collection (including the only painted portrait of Charlotte), the display will also feature first editions of her novel Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography, Life of Charlotte Bronte, as well as chalk drawings George Richmond made of both women. The exhibition, which is free to enter, is in Room 24 and runs until 14th August. For more, see www.npg.org.uk. PICTURE: National Portrait Gallery, London.

• Find out what the buzz is all about in London this week when The Royal Park’s A Right Royal Buzz exhibition is held across three venues – Duck Island Cottage in St James’s Park, The National Gallery and the Mall Galleries. The community arts project features art created in a series of workshops under the guidance of artist Alex Hirtzel – all in a bid to teach the public about the importance of pollination. The installations a blacked out box in the Mall Galleries where you can discover how bees see, a room of 3D flowers at the National Gallery inspired by Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Jan Van Huysum’s Flowers in a Terracotta Vase, and a four foot high beehive and bug hotel made of ceramic tiles on Duck Island in St James’s Park. For more on the project – which can only be seen until 20th February – see www.royalparks.org.uk/arightroyalbuzz.

• A recreation of Claes Jansz Visscher’s iconic 1616 engraving of London goes on show in the Guildhall Art Gallery from Saturday as part of commemorations of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Artist Robin Reynolds has recreated the work and depicts London, reaching from Whitehall to St Katharine’s Dock, on four large plates. In recognition of the Shakespearean commemoration, the new drawing also features references to the Bard’s 37 plays, three major poetic works and sonnets. Visscher Redrawn: 1616-2016 can be seen until 20th November and is part of a full program of events being held as part of the commemoration (including the Shakespeare Son et Lumiére show in Guildhall Yard on 4th and 5th March). For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/visscher and www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/shakespeare400.

• The first major presentation of the art of Eugene Delacroix to be held in the UK in more than 50 years has opened at the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing. Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art celebrates the career and legacy of the artist, arguably the most famous and controversial French painter of the late 19th century and one of the first “modern masters” yet whose name today is overshadowed by those of many of his contemporaries. The display features more than 60 works borrowed from 30 public and private collections around the world with highlights including Delacroix’s Self Portrait (about 1837), The Convulsionists of Tangiers (1838), and Bathers (1854) as well as works by other artists which pay tribute to the impact he had: among them, Bazille’s La Toilette, Van Gogh’s Pieta and Cezanne’s Battle of Love. Organised by the National Gallery in conjunction with the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the exhibition runs until 22nd May. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.nationalgallery.org.uk.

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