FROM its commanding position above Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery is one of the defining landmarks of London. Curiously, the square, which was conceived by the architect John Nash as part of his planned redevelopment of the West End of London from 1813, just predates the institution. Nevertheless, the stories of both are inextricably linked.
Nash’s hugely ambitious proposals aimed to create a new professional way that would connect the garden suburb of Regent’s Park with Charing Cross, at the juncture of the Strand and Whitehall. In 1819, he suggested laying out a square at the termination of this route, clearing away the outer court of the Royal Mews that stood here and creating what he later described as ‘the finest site in London for a public building’.
The site Nash coveted was not—as the modern visitor might assume—the future site of the National Gallery. In 1819, this was the location of the most prominent of the Royal Mews buildings, the Great Mews, so-called, designed by William Kent in 1731–32. Nor was it his intention to build a National Gallery; no such institution existed. Rather, he wanted to erect a Greek temple—modelled on the Parthenon—in the centre of the square, where Nelson’s Column now stands. It was to be a new home for the Royal Academy (RA).
Denne historien er fra June 02, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 02, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
