Talk: Painting the Christmas Story, social, & walk: Dickens in the City

Yesterday, I headed with London Social Detours to a talk on "Painting the Christmas Story" - a history of paintings of the nativity - at the Wallace Collection. Which got me up a lot earlier than I otherwise would, uhh.. and, well, I could have taken buses, but frankly, I'd have had to be up earlier.. sleep being a priority, I took the Tube. Which actually made more sense, as we were meeting at a Tube station! I even took a bus to London Bridge to catch the Tube, figuring it'd be faster than walking. But what with waiting for the bus, and waiting for the Tube.. I realised I'd be a little late. Happily, our organiser had provided her phone number, and reception was OK in London Bridge station, so I could let her know - and when I arrived, the group was stood outside, waiting for a few more people.

It was a short enough walk to the Wallace Collection - which, on top of its regular treasures, was beautifully decorated for Christmas! The talk was in the lecture theatre, in the basement - we had to walk through a little part of the house to get there:

The theatre itself has an interesting decor..

..and really comfy seats! I was still so tired, and it was a real effort not to drop off, especially once the room was darkened. But happily, the talk was fascinating. I don't know an awful lot about art myself, but I love listening to someone who does.

She took the story chronologically, from the Annunciation, to the travel to Bethlehem, to the birth, to the shepherds, to the magi. We saw examples from the 13th to the 19th Century - and from different countries. And as well as the kind of art analysis I've seen before - the use of colour to draw the eye, for example - she had lots of additional information for us. Such as Joseph's doubt about the source of Mary's pregnancy - amusingly portrayed - or how The Census at Bethlehem, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, was one of the first depictions of a snowy landscape, painted after a record-breaking cold winter.

She spent some time on Joseph's role - fetching midwives, for instance! I never did hear the story of how one doubted that Mary was a virgin - only to have her arm wither when it touched the baby Jesus. Turns out it's from the apocryphal gospel of James.. and one endearing painting has Joseph removing one of his stockings, and refashioning it to provide a swaddling cloth for the baby! It was also interesting to see the different outfits in the paintings, representing the place they were painted, as well as the period in history. Not to mention the ones commissioned by the wealthy, who tended to prefer paintings that depicted the kings. 

The talk lasted about an hour, and was also available online - really, really interesting! And of course afterwards, we had a trot around the house to try to find those paintings mentioned in the talk that are also part of the collection! Such as, hidden in a dark corner, this one of the Annunciation:

Or this:

Even this painting, of the Princes in the Tower, was included in the talk - she pointed out how one is holding a missal, and if you look closely, you can see a picture of the Annunciation in it!

Of course, we found the painting used in the title slide of the talk:

as well as a depiction of Mary and Jesus, on the flight into Egypt:

But hey, I went on a little treasure hunt to find all the depictions I could:

Not to mention the very smallest of all.. you have to look very closely at the centre of this to spot it:

And, of course, the house in general remains as photogenic as ever:

We hadn't been optimistic about getting enough space for us all in the cafe - but lo, there was! And we had a very sociable time. I was the only one to have a main meal - I picked the chicken supreme. Which took a little while to come - but looked and smelled lovely. And it was very tasty, particularly the gravy - but, as I told the server who collected my plate, when she asked how it was, the chicken was a little tough. She thanked me profusely for the feedback. Several times..

Well, Ivan had arranged to meet me afterwards, as he could only stay for a little on the 30th, and didn't get much of a chat with me. So I decided, rather than go home, my time would be spent more productively doing some much-needed Christmas shopping. And that was fun, despite the rain, which has a terrible habit, these days, of coming unannounced..

And so to The Approach Tavern - to accommodate Ivan, who couldn't get off work immediately, and so we wouldn't waste time with him commuting to me. I'd managed to book a table, but it wasn't time yet for my booking - on my first pass of the pub, there was nowhere to sit, so I went to the loo - and luckily, when I came out, a large table had just vacated, and I plonked myself there. Which was also handy, having plenty of space for my shopping. And I asked the frazzled lady behind the bar whether I could just stay there.. bemused, she agreed, if I was happy with it! Well, I didn't want there to be any confusion..

I started with my own wine - but when Ivan arrived, he ordered profusely, probably to encourage me to join in. I just had a brownie though - wasn't hungry after lunch. His main course was the sausage and mash - a huge portion, as they tend to do here. Unfortunately, he didn't like it at all, sending it back practically untouched - said the sausages were burnt. Aside from that glitch, we had a great catch-up.. and after my bus debacle last time, he insisted on calling a cab for me. Man though, I was too tired to blog last night..

Today.. well now, I could hardly skip Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies' annual Dickens in the City, could I? No, and I didn't.. I could, of course, walk to the walk. Which, of course, meant I was slightly late - happily, when he messaged, I was nearly there. Just had to cross several bits of road at what is a large junction.

I met some new folks on this walk - and saw familiar faces too, some of whom I hadn't seen in an age! Now of course, I did this walk before - and so there were places familiar to me. Such as the old Marshalsea prison for debtors, on the site of which we stood for a while - and the adjacent church of St. George the Martyr, which has a stained glass window depicting Dickens' character of Little Dorrit, a number of scenes in the book being set there, as her father was incarcerated in the prison:

We stopped off at The George, which is all festooned for Christmas:

Popped across the bridge:

Now, it drizzled all through the walk. And my feet weren't exactly dressed for it - my boots got a soaking, and it got so bad that my frozen feet went numb whenever we stood for Laurence to say something! Well, my weather app hadn't exactly predicted it.. Anyway, we made it to the Monument:

And my goodness, the Royal Exchange has gone all Christmassy!

And it seems to be contagious:

Beside the church of St. Mary-le-Bow (where I noticed a broken window), I'd completely forgotten about the statue of John Smith!

And lo, John Milton is from here:

Onwards, to the environs of St. Paul's, and Temple Bar Gate:

I have to say, this ad caught my eye - it's not often you see a negative one!

And I'd forgotten that Punch magazine began in the Punch Tavern:

And gee, Dickens is referenced all over - this one refers to The Pickwick Papers:

And so, on again to Ye Olde Cock Tavern for lunch:

We had the table at the back again. I went to the loo, then ordered on the way back - where there was a massive queue! Well, I took my glass of wine back to the table, and the chat was excellent. Which was just as well, considering the slowness of food service here. We're used to it, so we didn't start worrying for a while - but Lordy, eventually, there was no denying that this was unusually slow! The food started to arrive when Laurence went to the toilet.. but wow, only a couple of dishes! We were drip-fed, a couple of people at a time.. For once, I was the last to be served. And by the time I was (apologies all around from the waiter, to an unsympathetic audience), it was now an hour and 10 minutes since the orders had gone in, and the chap beside me had already finished his meal! No wonder Laurence is thinking of changing from this pub - yes, the food is good and they have my favourite wine, and the service is friendly, but who can spend all day waiting for it?!

Afterwards, some of us repaired to The Coal Hole, where we got a table before long, and stayed on for a bit, drinking and chatting. A lovely, convivial day, for the season that's in it. And since Laurence's January Saturday walk is on a weekend I'm not in London, it'll be February before I'm on another of these.. ah well, roll on the date. And I got more Christmas shopping done on the way home.. and am now looking forward to a nice long sleep. Particularly as I'm very sniffly tonight - I guess that's what I get for traipsing around town in the rain..

 

Tomorrow - the Christmas social with Ivan, James, and Martin, who couldn't make it on the 30th! Unfortunately, The Approach Tavern can't accommodate us indoors in the evening, so I've now booked The Bethnal Green Tavern.. who can only guarantee our table until 8pm. Ivan stepped up and booked The Florist Arms, nearby, for later..

On Sunday, I'm back to Ireland for Christmas - and yay, there's a film on I can see! Queer, with Daniel Craig, also featuring Jason Schwartzman, and directed by Luca Guadagnino, is showing in the Omniplex - I've booked to see it on Monday. Based on the novella by William S. Burroughs, it looks really interesting.

I'll be returning to London on the 5th. Have a very merry one!