Such dim-conceived glories of the brain
Bring round the heart an undescribable feud;
So do these wonders a most dizzy pain,
That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude
Wasting of old time--with a billowy main--
A sun--a shadow of a magnitude
~"On Seeing the Elgin Marbles", John Keats
We spent the morning at the British Museum, passing through rooms holding all kinds of ancient treasures. After walking across the entrance hall, one comes to a grand round room, with skylights and white walls and floors. In the first exhibition room that we entered, the Rosetta stone greeted us from its glass case. It was maybe 3 feet in height, and 2 in width, but it was very thick. The miniscule writing in three languages appeared gently dusted into the rock, or scratched into a stone with a nail by a child.
This room had Assyrian art to the right and Egyptian to the left. Two towering winged bulls with men's heads flanked the entrance to the Assyrian rooms. I don't know too much about Assyrian art, but I really liked the mythological figures in their carvings. Figures with strong limbs and wings like angels performed religious oblations.
The Egyptian room opened onto a kind of wild zoo, with half-human figures standing along walls and giant Pharaohs smiling from their pedestals. The rows of gods lined up like in the song from The Prince of Egypt. Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess, stared calmly forward out of black stone. Small owls and eagles scowled while Amenhotep smiled with blank eyes.
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| I like how their arms are flattened to their bodies. |
The next several rooms displayed large daises with the enthralling fragments of the Elgin Marbles. With these emotive figures on the Parthenon, I can see why the Acropolis was the crown of Greece. All the same, with Greece's current turmoil, it is probably fortunate that England has the carvings and statues. The marble frieze depicted men fighting centaurs, their bodies writhing and twisting. Veins pop out and ribs stretch under the skin on the human half of the centaur. Elsewhere, horses pant and scream as they pull chariots.
As for the triumphant gods that would have stood on the pediments of the Parthenon, only torsos are left--but what incredible fragments they are! Thin robes cling to their bodies as if they were wet. Fabric still seems to move on a reclining Venus, like thin gauzy curtains. Helios and his chariot rising from the ocean and Selene descending frame the tableaux.
Leaving the Grecian world, I excitedly headed for the Sutton Hoo exhibit. When we got to the British antiquities section, however, all the exhibit cases were empty! I was pretty disappointed, until we found that it had only been moved to a temporary room next to the gift shop. Sutton Hoo was the site of a ship-burial (think Beowulf) where archaeologists found amazing Anglo-Saxon artifacts. My favorite piece was the rusted metal helmet with an engraved mustache. They also displayed a reconstruction of what it would have looked like, with intricate silver carvings of battle scenes.
By now we had spent the whole morning at the museum, so we walked back towards our flat to find something to eat. We found a sandwich shop, which is a chain in London, called Pret a Manger. They serve boxed sandwiches for you to take away, and they are actually quite good. However, smoked salmon, boiled eggs, and turkey and stuffing are not things that American kids like James like to eat. The poor kid probably lost several pounds on this trip! After lunch, all of us kids fell asleep on the couches in the living room. Dad took advantage of that and took pictures, but they will not be posted here!
Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home! ~ Charles Dickens
After our nap, it was time to get dressed. We had tickets reserved to see Handel's Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. After an Underground ride, we had to take a long walk through the tunnels leading to the Hall. The Hall itself is tall and round like the Colosseum, though constructed of red brick and white Grecian friezes. The road curves around the front, leading to a golden statue of Albert under a white baldacchino with mosaics. The rest of us stood in the lobby while Dad, James and Nick picked up the tickets. After a few minutes, Nick came back to us with a funny look on his face. When we asked him what the matter was, he said, "The tickets were for last night." Apparently Dad reacted pretty calmly, but with disappointment. We were all surprised, but were not too upset. These things happen, right? But, miraculously, there was an empty box, and the kind cashier and manager allowed us to use the tickets for that night. (For some reason they seem to have trouble selling tickets in Box 13...)
After that near disaster, we trooped into the box. Each box had red velvet curtains at the sides and sat at least 9 people. The ceiling of the Hall was lit with purple lights on columns. Dull colored pipes surrounded the gold organ, some of them as large as the white windmills that dot the western USA. The hundreds of choir members dressed in black fluttered their white music books. The music was amazing, the choir was heavenly, and the bass soloist was especially good. The joyful parts uplifted and the sorrowful ones made our hearts feel heavy, but when we stood for the Hallelujah Chorus, I think everyone had goosebumps.
And he shall reign forever and ever!
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