This England: A Day at the V&A

We are back to the last bunch of posts from England! If you were to ask me "what is the one museum I should visit during my very short time in London," I would probably say (unless you were into a specific topic, like "I only want to see art"), don't miss "The Victoria and Albert" (aka the V&A).

Why? Because it has it all. Decorative Arts. Painting. Photography. Sculpture. History. Jewelry. Glass. Architecture. Media and Performing Arts. And probably more than a few things I've forgotten.

It's massive. Large, wide rooms with tall ceilings, filled with artifacts. Unless you are into specifics, the best way to do this one is to wander and enjoy things as they come along. Below you see a cast of Trajan's Column. The original is in Rome, but you can see details. And if you take a look at the tiny people on the floor area, you can get a size of the scope of the room. (Click to enlarge photos.)

They had casts of several key art works, including Michelangelo's David and Ghiberti's Doors. The originals were created for the Bapistery of Florence Cathedral depicting five scenes from the Old Testament and were done in bronze. The copies are made by a process called Electrotype, which uses electricity to deposit copper particles into a mold for the cast. This was made in 1867,

Your other visiting option is to pick an area and really spend time at that one. If you choose to continue after, have at it. I confess, it would have been fun to have a sketchbook and stool with me like these fellows.

 

Rick and I had been here once, in 2018, when we took in the English history section, so we skipped that this time. Instead we went for the general approach, seeing as much as we could with the time and energy we had!

Early on in our visit, we happened into the jewelry section, a long, dark room with its own version of the Crown Jewels.

Above is a cornet designed for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert. "We were very busy looking over various pieces of old jewelry of mine, settling to have some reset," she recorded in her diary. "Albert has such taste and arranges everything for me about my jewels." He designed this so it could be worn as a circled tiara or pulled apart to wear as she did in the painting below.

 

This is Victoria's diamond coronet. She wore this in 1966 for the ceremonial opening of Parliament. It was another designed by Albert.

 

The photography area had some magnificent examples of the art, from both artists well known to me and many of whom I'd never heard. This was an interesting installation.

They also had a wonderful collection of vintage cameras that I found fascnating.

And this photo, by filmmaker Fred Zinneman, of cyclists racing in Madison Square Garden's velodrome was another that caught my eye. And Rick's.

  

In some corridors, there were murals, such as this, one of a series by Lord Frederick Leighton.

As you might expect, one of my favorite areas focused on the performing arts. The large series of galleries emphasized just about every element, from the stage to screens large and small, concert performance, opera, costume and scene design design, make-up, puppetry and more. There were excellent videos, some quite detailed. And nice spots to enjoy them.

I am always intrigued by technical elements of stage and media so I especially enjoyed one about how they made up actors in the series "The Crown." Also on display was the wedding gown Claire Foy wore as Elizabeth.

Also on display is another gown worn by Helen Mirren as Elizabeth in the stage play "The Audience." 

Other displays included "Wicked" costumes, Lin Manuel Miranda's "His Dark Materials" costume (along with video and puppets from the series) and "Star Wars."

One of my all-time favorite musicals is Stephen Sondheim's "Follies," so it was fun to see one of the detailed costumes from the show up close. This was from the 2017 National Theatre revival.

 A few other fun things included Elton John's glasses . . . 

. . .  and Vivien Leigh's Oscar for "A Streetcar Named Desire."

If you were lucky enough to attend the 2239th performance of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap," (the performance making it the longest running show in the West End -- and it is still running) then you would have received this silk program. 

On my first trip to England in 1973, I had wanted to see the Raphael cartoons, which were the "rough drafts" for tapestries to be hung in the Vatican in the Sistine Chapel. I had learned about them in my art history classes and wanted to view them in person. I thought they were worth a revisit, as Rick hadn't seen them on our last trip.

Each of these ten pieces are about ten feet tall and between nine and sixteen feet wide. The figures are greater than life size. They depict New Testament stories from the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul. They are displayed in a large gallery with benches so one can sit back and really see them.

They also had good reference materials one could peruse for each of the cartoons.

At the far end of the gallery is the magnificent Alterpiece of Saint George, created around 1420. As you can see, it is enormous, Rick looks very short here! It is a celebration of Christian faith depicting St. George appearing to James I of Aragon on the battlefield, a victory that led to the founding of the Kingdom of Valencia.

 Rick wanted to be sure to see the medieval galleries, which were fascinating. Some of the things included here were stained glass from Paris' Sainte-Chapelle . . . 

. . . along with large and elegant tapestries (a detail below).

 

Part of the reason Rick was interested in this spot was because his ancestry can be traced to King Edward I, as I mentioned in our visits to the Tower of London. It was interesting to see what things the museum showed to represent this time, but one of our favorites was this statue of his mega-times-back great grandmother (we think 25th), Queen Eleanor of Castile, Edward's wife and the mother of his direct ancestor, their daughter Elizabeth. When Eleanor died in 1290, her body was transported across England in a procession, ending at Westminster Abbey where she was buried. At each place her body rested, a cross was erected to her memory and this is part of that cross from Waltham in Hertfordshire.

 

There were other pieces of art in this area I liked very much including this cast of the Virgin and Child by Benedetto da Malano in the 1400. 

I loved this one too -- I originally thought it was by one of my favorites, Della Robbia. It wasn't, but still, lovely.

We both liked the music part of this area, where you could view some ancient manuscripts and also listen to a number of pieces, accompanied by printed explanation.

 

 I thought these pieces were really beautiful. 

That made for a long and full but satisfying day. We headed back to Swiss Cottage and enjoyed dinner at a pub near our hotel called The North Star. The portions were large, the beer good and it felt like a pub "should be!"

Then it was back to the hotel. Time to pack for check-out the next day, when we would move to friends Jenny and T's for a few days before heading home. And, to get ready for a big day the next morning!

Travel Tips

• The V&A is in a lively area of London called Kensington. The natural history museum is nearby, as is the department store Harrods and other (pricey) retail options. It's also close to Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Gardens. It's a good spot to spend a day! Maybe two! The museum is easily accessible from the tube. (I really like the look of this tube station!)

• The V&A has a beautiful cafe. It's also expensive and crowded. We skipped out, picked up lunch at a nearby arcade with food -- nothing fancy, but serviceable and far less expensive. There are numerous restaurants within easy walking distance for more of a sit-down lunch. (That said, next time I'd pack a little snack in my bag and enjoy the ambience of the beautiful V&A cafe!)
• The V&A is one of many London museums that are free. But donations are greatly welcome and there are kiosks that make it easy to donate with your VISA card. The gift shop is lovely and well worth a look, too.  

• As for timing, you can do as we did and pretty much devote the day to the V&A or stop and shop along the way and check out a part of it, as we did on our previous trip. Because it is accessible and no charge, it is easy to return. By the way, when we went in 2018, I was having mobility issues and it was easy to get a complimentary wheel chair from the service desk, which is what we did. So don't let its size and scope stop you.

Sharing with:   Share Your Style