The Datebook Autumn 2015 | Page 20

By Richard Fitzwilliams

The Waddesdon Bequest
The British Museum

A

new Gallery has been created for this collection of over
250 medieval and Renaissance artefacts bequeathed to
the Museum by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1898. It
used to be based in The New Smoking Room in the Baron’s
magnificent country retreat, Waddesdon Manor in
Buckinghamshire. This is one of the great houses of England
which resembles a 16th Century French chateau and which
exhibits its contents with impeccable taste.

Arthur Wellesley,
1st Duke of
Wellington,
by Sir Thomas
Lawrence.

The Museum used to display this collection in an impressive but
remote gallery on the first floor. I was one of its few visitors as I
always admired these works. In the new Gallery, specially designed
by the architects Stanton Williams, a film which conveys the
magnificence of Waddesdon is projected against the back wall. The
aim of this Gallery is to create the aura of a fabulous treasure trove
with shimmering, bejewelled contents as all the artefacts are
perfectly restored and invariably look beautiful.
Three huge sculptural showcases house many of the exhibits; other
smaller objects are displayed in cases in the walls and some are on
special in-gallery screens as part of the digital programme
accompanying the displays. The Middle Room, which was the
original Reading Room when the Museum housed part of the British
Library, was an ideal choice to house the collection as it is a
separate gallery. Also it is situated on the ground floor and is easily
accessible to visitors.
The collection contains the Holy Thorn Reliquary, which has richly
sculpted gems around a thorn which was supposedly from the
Crown of Thorns worn by Christ when he was crucified. There is also
the bewitching Lycurgus Cup, probably from Rome in the 4th
Century BC, which changes colour when held up to the light and
which the Museum bought from Lord Rothschild.
An important feature of this collection is the way its various objects,
from priceless porcelain to elaborately decorated weapons, are an
example of Kunstkammer, the name given to a cabinet of wondrous
artefacts from the Renaissance era. There are some amazing
microcarvings in boxwood and there is much that is exotic. Lovers of
the baroque will appreciate the sumptuousness of this collection
and a far larger public will now enjoy it.

Waterloo at Windsor:
1815 - 2015
Royal Collection Trust /
© Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II 2014.

Waterloo
at Windsor 1815-2015

T

he 200th anniversary of Waterloo, the first and only time
that Wellington and Napoleon faced each other in the
most significant land battle of the 19th Century, is celebrated
in this exhibition which has one of the most magnificent
rooms of the Castle as its centrepiece.

The Waterloo Chamber, designed by Jeffry Wyatville for George IV, is
a glorious celebration of this great victory. It is supremely ambitious
in its vast scale and a creation of rare beauty as it contains some
brilliant works by the greatest portraitist of the era, Sir Thomas
Lawrence. He painted many of the monarchs, soldiers and
diplomats who were involved in the reshaping of the map of Europe
after Napoleon’s defeat and whose portraits adorn the walls.
The result is unforgettable. There are portrayals of rulers, some of
whom show how portraiture could flatter outrageously as in
Lawrence’s portrait of George IV. There is a superlative,
romanticized depiction of the Duke of Wellington in the place of
honour and a portrait of the benevolent, ageing Pope Pius VII, a
study of great sensitivity, which is considered Lawrence’s
masterpiece.
The exhibition begins in the Drawings Gallery which contains a
series of works including landscapes, prints and cartoons linked to
the battle and its aftermath. However many visitors to Windsor both
from home and abroad have a limited knowledge of history and a
film briefly summarizing the events that led to Waterloo and the
pivotal moments during the battle itself would have been useful.

Holy Thorn
Reliquary of
Jean, duc de
Berry, Paris,
France, before
AD 1397.
© The Trustees of the
British Museum

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THE LONDON & UK DATEBOOK

As we proceed through the State Apartments we discover further
artefacts including the Waterloo Chair by Thomas Chippendale the
Younger made from the elm tree under which Wellington had his
command post. There are also trophies such as Napoleon’s cloak
and the Table of the Great Commanders, commissioned by
Napoleon and ostensibly honouring Alexander the Great whose
image has a remarkable similarity to his own!
The Royal Collection website contains a fascinating video about the
Waterloo Chamber narrated by Desmond Shawe-Taylor, the Surveyor
of the Queen’s Pictures. It reproduces a vivid lecture by Professor
Saul David about the Battle as well as listing the events and group
visits linked to the exhibition. There is also the appeal of Windsor
Castle, the world’s largest and oldest occupied fortress, and of the
historic St George’s Chapel, which adjoins the Castle, that makes
this an especially memorable experience.