A Trail of Architectural Fragments in the V&A

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "A Trail of Architectural Fragments in the V&A"

Moses Shepherd
5 years ago
Views:

A Trail of Architectural Fragments in the V&A The V&A collections include many items of architectural interest. This trail will lead you through a selection that can be seen in the galleries.

1 A Trail of Architectural Fragments in the V&A The V&A collections include many items of architectural interest. This trail will lead you through a selection that can be seen in the galleries. The estimated time to complete the trail is an hour. The trail starts in front of the China gallery in Room 47e. If you are entering the Museum from Cromwell Road, go through the Grand Entrance and turn right. If you are entering from Exhibition Road, turn right and go through the glass doors leading to the galleries. Then turn left down the stairs towards the Renaissance gallery. About half way down the gallery (opposite the doors to the Garden), turn right into Shop 1. Walk straight through and at the end turn left towards Room 47e. Then look either side of the first arch on your right. Pair of roof tiles, Hebei Province, China, about Museum number: C.363, The yellow-glazed roof tiles are in the form of fish-dragons and date from about , during the rule of the Ming dynasty in China. They would have been placed at the end of the main ridge of a sloping roof. The fish-dragons, with their pronounced jaws, illustrate a popular legend about the dragon living in the East Sea. It was believed that rain fell whenever the monster opened its jaws to spout water. The presence of fish-dragons on the roof was therefore meant to protect against lightning and fire. Most traditional Chinese buildings have ornaments on the roof ridges or corner ribs. These roof tiles were probably made for a minor palace or temple hall in Tanjin, in Hebei Province in northern China. In this part of China the roof ridge is usually straight but the ribs at the ends of the gables tilt slightly upwards. The fish-dragons were almost certainly made in Hebei, where tiles have been produced since the 6 th century and are still made today.

The next object can be found in the Sculpture galleries. Walk through the arch opposite the China gallery into Room 50a and turn left. Roodloft from s-hertogenbosch, Netherlandish, 1610-13.

2 The next object can be found in the Sculpture galleries. Walk through the arch opposite the China gallery into Room 50a and turn left. Roodloft from s-hertogenbosch, Netherlandish, Museum number: Straddling the gallery is an extremely rare example of a Baroque roodloft located outside a church. A roodloft is a gallery on which the rood (literally, cross) was displayed to the congregation. Often the cross was flanked by figures of the Virgin Mary and St John. The roodloft acted as a screen between the nave and the chancel, separating the congregation from the altar and priests. This roodloft was erected between 1610 and 1613 in the cathedral of St John at s-hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. It was taken down during the restoration of the building in 1866, because it obstructed the view of the high altar, and sold to an art dealer, who in turn sold it to the V&A. The sculptor, Conrad van Norenberch from Namur, closely modelled the design on the roodloft in Antwerp Cathedral. Its vaulted arcade has an opening in the middle and niches at the sides for statues of saints. Above are four figures bearing coats-of-arms alternating with three statues of the cardinal virtues Faith, Charity and Hope. The relief panels over the arches show biblical scenes. Between the arches, and reading left to right, are figures of St Peter, the Virgin and Child, St John the Evangelist and St Paul.

3 The next exhibit can be found in the Cast Courts. Walk through the roodloft up to the end of the Room 50b and turn left into the Cast Courts. These magnificent galleries opened in as the Architectural Courts. They were specially designed to hold the Museum s collection of plaster casts and large-scale architectural sculpture, the most prominent exhibit being the casts of Trajan s Column in the western court. On reaching the Cast Courts, turn left into Room 46a (the western court) and walk past the two segments of Trajan s Column towards the wall at the far end. Master Mateo, Puerta de la Gloria from the cathedral at Santiago della Compostela, the original 1188, the plaster cast 19 th century. Museum number: , doors , Here you will find a cast of the Puerta de la Gloria, which is one of the main doors of the cathedral of Santiago de la Compostela in northern Spain. The cathedral, dedicated to the apostle St James the Greater, is an important pilgrimage centre and second only to Rome in attracting visitors. It was modelled on French pilgrimage churches and erected in The door is an important late Romanesque design by Master Mateo dating from Puerta de la Gloria is the west door and therefore the sunset door. It symbolises the end of time and the Final Judgement, portrayed in figures full of naturalism. The structure of the door consists of three arches, based on Roman triumphal arches and symbolising the triumph of heaven. The vertical bar dividing the central arch has an image of St James at the top and the Tree of Jesse, a visualisation of Christ s ancestry, at the bottom.

4 At the back of this column is the kneeling figure of Master Mateo (facing towards the altar). He is popularly known as the Santo dos Croques (Saint of the Bumps) since traditionally visitors have hit their head against the figure in order to receive some of his wisdom.

The next object can be found in the Renaissance galleries. Walk out of the entrance to your right, turn left and go down the short flight of steps towards the Photography gallery.

5 The next object can be found in the Renaissance galleries. Walk out of the entrance to your right, turn left and go down the short flight of steps towards the Photography gallery. Turn left in the corridor and walk straight down towards Room 23. Halfway down the gallery (opposite the doors into the Garden) are two pairs of carved wooden columns Columns, southern Italy (Sicily or Calabria), Museum number: 269&A,B,C These probably formed part of a pulpit or choir screen in a church in southern Italy. They are extremely rare survivors of Italian early medieval church furnishings carved from wood. All the columns have circular shafts and squared capitals and are carved out of walnut wood. They seem to have been shortened at the base. Two of the columns are sitting on crouching lions. All four faces of the capitals bear a mixture of religious imagery and decorative ornament. One of the capitals (in the pair nearest to the windows) refers to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. He is shown carrying a scroll inscribed IEREMIA, along with two peacocks symbolising eternal life and two trees. The columns were all originally coloured and show traces of red, green and yellow paint and white priming.

6 The next object can be found in the South Asia gallery. Continue down the Renaissance gallery and turn left through the arch into Room 41. Walk to the other end of the gallery and look right opposite the entrance. Colonnade from a royal pavilion, Ajmer, India, early 17 th century. Museum number: IS The colonnade in front of you is from an early 17 th -century royal pavilion in the palace at Ajmer, India. The Mughal emperor Akbar built the original fort and palace at Ajmer in However, the pavilion from which this colonnade originates is thought to date from the time of his son Jahangir, who reigned from 1605 to At the top of the columns are S-shaped brackets with pendant lotus buds. These come from the wooden brackets that were traditionally used in Indian architecture. Above the brackets are expanding tiered capitals that derive from Near Eastern prototypes. The brackets gave a decorative effect to the courtyards, while the overhanging eaves served as a protection from the fierce sun and monsoon rain.

7 The next object can be found in the European galleries. Walk out of the entrance opposite the colonnade and turn right into the corridor. At the end of the corridor walk down the steps into Europe Turn left in the gallery and walk through till you reach Room 7b. Look to your left for the painted period room known as the Sérilly Cabinet. There is a bust of Madame de Sérilly in the centre of the room. The Sérilly Cabinet, Paris, about Museum number: The Sérilly Cabinet is a masterpiece from the reign of Louis XVI. It is said to have been created for the Marquise de Sérilly, a favourite maid-of-honour to Queen Marie-Antoinette and wife of an army paymaster-general who was executed during the French Revolution. The room is square in plan with two projecting bays. It was designed as a garden pavilion and probably used by the marquise for entertaining her closest friends, perhaps for serving tea since the fireback shows a Chinaman carrying a tea tray. The decoration was probably carried out by the brothers Jules-Hugues and Jean- Simeon Rousseau de La Rottière, who were also responsible for Marie Antoinette s boudoir turc at Fontainebleau. Its grotesque designs reflect the revived enthusiasm for classical decoration that resulted from the recent excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii. All the surfaces in the room are decorated with ornament representing the Elements and the Seasons, partly in relief. This is painted in various colours and embellished with gilding.

The final object on this tour can be found in Shop. The front of Sir Paul Pindar s House, London, about 1600. Museum number: 846-1890 This is the front of Sir Paul Pindar s house in Bishopsgate.

8 The final object on this tour can be found in Shop. The front of Sir Paul Pindar s House, London, about Museum number: This is the front of Sir Paul Pindar s house in Bishopsgate. It is one of the finest specimens of timber-framed domestic architecture in London and was constructed about 1600 by a wealthy London merchant. Paul Pindar went to Venice in 1584, at the age of 18, and over the next 14 years he amassed a vast fortune that helped him build this new house. Later he became ambassador to Turkey and was knighted by James I. The two-storey façade was originally four stories. It is made of jointed and carved oak with richly carved panels at the bottom of each bay on the first and second floors. Above this are windows made up of many small pieces of glass. Glass was an expensive material at the time and its use signified the wealth and status of the house owner. By 1787 the house had become a public house and in 1890 it was demolished to make way for the enlargement of Liverpool Street Station. The Great Eastern Railway Company then gave part of the façade to the V&A.

Cathedrals. Cathedrals means chair and was the seat of the local bishop Cathedrals were built to take the worshipper to heaven.

Cathedrals. Cathedrals means chair and was the seat of the local bishop Cathedrals were built to take the worshipper to heaven. Cathedrals Cathedrals Cathedrals means chair and was the seat of the local bishop Cathedrals were built to take the worshipper to heaven. The Gothic period lasted from the late 1100's to the 1500's. Most