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Post by bixaorellana on May 10, 2013 18:12:39 GMT
Yaay ~~ there's more! Cheery, because you take such excellent pictures, I was able to blow up the one of the alabaster carving and read it: Alabaster sculpture in painted oak case This beautiful 15th century sculpture is decorated with the Yorkist symbols of the white rose and the Sun in Splendour. In the centre of the scene is John the Baptist and he is accompanied by the figures of Jesus and a bishop, who is thought to be St. William of York.If they don't want that thing anymore, I'll be happy to take it! You wrote: "is this owt to do with Freemasons? I wouldn't know but will look into it.." I blew that picture up, too, and I believe the thing in the middle that looks like an M is actually supposed to be a draped black cloth. That, and the things written around it make me think it might be a memorial piece for someone. I'm curious to hear what you find out. The statue of Ethelfreda is wonderful (as is her name). But the rain butt is almost as beautiful. Do you suppose it's copper? So many curious and lovely things and so amazing they've been preserved through the centuries, particularly the gorgeous leaded windows. The gibbet ~~ yow!! No, no, never bored -- this is a super thread.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 11, 2013 18:36:20 GMT
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Post by mossie on May 12, 2013 7:31:02 GMT
The gibbet should be brought back for the bankers. Set up in the city to "encourage the others". It keeps the body together far longer than simply hanging, especially when it has been tarred as was the practice. ;D
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Post by lugg on May 12, 2013 7:46:25 GMT
No not bored at all, really interesting additions to this fab thread. I followed up your links it is quite remarkable that the Guildhall survived at all, that ancient water butt even more so.
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Post by lola on May 17, 2013 0:13:06 GMT
Oh, really nice, cheeryp!
Thank you for correcting me on two things I had entirely pictured wrong: the Groat and the Gibbet. One looks better than I thought, and the other one worse.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 27, 2015 19:53:37 GMT
OK....my photos of the fuss in Leicester are limited to what I could catch, I missed all the processions and didn't get invited to the ceremony (my invite must have been lost in the post) but I'm not a royalist so it wasn't the end of the world. My first excursion into the city centre was yesterday, the day of the actual internment. The weather was dismal...raining and cold (apt for a funeral I spose)....I missed the procession to the cathedral by a hair (bus got stuck in traffic). There were two large screens set up, one by the clock tower and one in the new Jubilee Square for the Hoi Polloi to watch....the streets around the cathedral were all fenced off with police and security all over the place. It was a Thursday morning so most people were at work or school, but there were a fair few people out watching. A sign of the times....all the municipal litter bins were covered in plastic 'just in case' even the bicycle stands were all fenced off. Jubilee Square (was a car park until last summer!) watching one of the screens I walked behind the crowds to see if I could get anywhere near the cathedral...some public had been allowed in that area but it seems that they had been invited...the rest of us were kept out. on the right here you can see the new visitor centre...a lot of tv crews were set up in there. Abandoning the square I walked up the High Street to the clock tower where there was another large screen in place, this also had quite a large crowd The Bishop of Canterbury is on the screen of the above. This is the Bishop of Leicester and the Dean of Leicester Cathedral My bus was late so I hung around and watched as they lowered the coffin into the tomb It was all very surreal...everybody was fascinated...I was most interested in the dig itself and found the fuss a bit over the top. However it was nice to see something like this happening outside London for a change. Today I was at work until 12 helping out, then I walked over to the Cathedral on my way home. There was another service about to take place so I couldn't go into the cathedral to take a pic of the monument....but took a few pics from the path. There were people laying out terracotta bowls all over Jubilee square and in the Cathedral grounds....very odd I thought....then I looked closer and saw that they were candles. it was only when I saw this poster on my way home that I could see what they were doing unfortunately I didn't get into town this evening, my lad isn't well so we're all staying home.... At the start of this thread I think I posted an image of the Richard III statue that I used to walk past most mornings on my way to work, it has been moved from Castle Gardens to stand in the Cathedral grounds...an overtly commercial decision on behalf of the city council I feel....but I took a photograph of him in his new home for you...his sword has had a makeover since his days in Castle Gardens!
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Post by htmb on Mar 27, 2015 20:13:18 GMT
Well done, Cheery. You were able to get some very interesting photos, giving us a real flavor of the events. I wonder who is in charge of lighting the 8,000 flames.
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Post by lagatta on Mar 27, 2015 23:56:18 GMT
How can they light those flames if it rains? At first, those things looked like saucers of milk for resident cats. It is nice to have a new public square; fortunately many that became car parks in C20 have been restored or turned into parks or squares, in many countries.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 28, 2015 1:16:01 GMT
Well done, Cheery ~ brava! You put up with some nasty weather to get those great pictures. Glad to hear you all are well & warm inside now. Hope your son feels better.
The royalists must have been peeing themselves with pride & excitement. I agree with you about the emotional hoo-ha, but you're right that it's nice for Leicester to get the glory.
Re: what LaGatta said about car parks into public squares ~ I was thinking The Big Discovery would have towns all over furiously digging up their parking lots, hoping for more historical finds.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2015 7:25:10 GMT
It is delightfully absurd to have a funeral 530 years after somebody died. So English!
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Post by patricklondon on Mar 28, 2015 7:33:23 GMT
They could hardly shove him back under the car park. See also Napoleon, Frederick the Great and Roger Casement, incidentally..... My blog | My photos | My video clips"too literate to be spam"
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Post by mossie on Mar 28, 2015 8:02:01 GMT
Thanks Cheery for bringing us an "on the spot" report.
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Post by bjd on Mar 28, 2015 9:27:56 GMT
Thanks, Cheery. I too have found this an interesting event ever since the body was found a few years ago.
One report I read mentioned the fact that Richard III would have been a Roman Catholic, since he lived before Henry VIII broke with the Church, so it was ironic that he was buried in an Anglican cathedral.
Like Lagatta, I was wondering how they would light all those candles in the rain. A bonfire would work, but candles?
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Post by lagatta on Mar 28, 2015 13:56:43 GMT
Here in Montréal, a former car park where a building was supposed to be erected in the city centre was dug up this past winter, in the hope of locating the original Iroquoian village of Hochelaga, but alas no artefacts were found. There is a Richard in Leicester site, if cheery hasn't posted it: kingrichardinleicester.com/His displaced statue seems to have a straight back, while the skeleton as photographed has the scoliosis with which he was usually portrayed...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 28, 2015 15:08:01 GMT
Thanks for that lagatta The candles were lit by a very efficient team and the rain held off so it went quite well according to the local news, it was quite windy tho I meant to add, I picked up an order of service on Thursday..nice little keepsake. Incidentally, I had a mate with curvature of the spine and altho you could see it if she wore a swimsuit and her back was exposed, it didn't really notice when she was dressed. We don't really know what Richard looked like, the reconstruct surely can't take into account things like skin tone, eye colour, muscle tone, fat distribution, lip shape etc can it ? The much used 'portrait' was painted many years after his death too...not by anyone who had actually seen him...the National Gallery says that there were probably portraits made of the king during his lifetime and altho none survive the 16th Century one was 'probably based on' an original....but who really knows?
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Post by lugg on Mar 28, 2015 17:33:12 GMT
Thanks Cheery - I was reading my local paper earlier and discovered that the oak used for the coffin came from Herefordshire. ( however it was regal oak as it came from Prince Charles estate .) Incidentally the coffin was made by Michael Ibsen ( Canadian born carpenter) whose DNA confirmed that it was indeed Richard 111
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Post by lagatta on Mar 28, 2015 19:18:44 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 29, 2015 1:49:06 GMT
As Cheery says, frequently the scoliosis curvature isn't noticeable & even then, often not until the person is somewhat elderly. What does that mean, Lugg -- that the dna had to be compared to a living descendent?
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Post by lugg on Mar 29, 2015 6:38:11 GMT
Yes Bixa - the DNA from the skeleton alone would not confirm his identity but direct comparison with any KNOWN descendants would. Michael Ibsen was identified as one such person but he was not actually a direct descendant of Richard ( don't think he had any surviving children at least any known) but of John of Gaunt. This link has several sections to it which I find fascinating re the genetics and the level of knowledge of the family trees. The team also researched the female side as this was important too although the Y chromosome link was more important. Leics Uni team was already renowned for DNA finger printing even before the discovery of Richard. www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/science/relatives.html
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2015 19:01:20 GMT
Considering how ornery people have become, I am beginning to imagine that people are soon going to risk being arrested for the crimes of their ancestors. Already people seem to feel it is normal to pay war reparations for things that happened 70 years ago or more.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 30, 2015 3:14:18 GMT
Lugg, thank you so much for that link! I've only read the first section so far, including the comments & squabbling, but am looking forward to reading & learning from the rest of it.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 30, 2015 12:42:46 GMT
Great photos Cheery - thanks for showing us all that went on. You hear an announcer on the news mentioning the event but your photos have made it much better by bringing it to life! I think its is absolutely marvellous that they found Richard III.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 29, 2015 18:41:08 GMT
Today I was in the city centre shopping, took some time out to take some pics of three of the four sand sculptures that are on display around the old part of the city, they are part of the summer festival....the works aren't quite finished but theyre well on the way. In the entrance to Wygestone House there was the opportunity to have a go at sand sculpture The first sculpture is a beautiful shape The second one was in the courtyard of the BBC shop near to the cathedral the third is outside the Richard III visitor centre opposite the cathedral The 4th is in the courtyard inside the visitor centre....and as this is a bank holiday weekend here in Leicester the place was full, and I had bags of shopping so I didn't get a pic of that one....sorry.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2015 18:44:33 GMT
Those look excellent. I have always read that hair spray is what is used on sand sculptures to solidify them, but I have no idea whether it is true or not. I would think that something more heavy duty would be required, especially if it rains.
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Post by htmb on Aug 29, 2015 18:51:26 GMT
These are fantastic, Cheery, especially the detail in the last sculpture.
It also looked, from your photo, like the last one might have been undercover. With all that work, I'd certainly think the artists would want their creations to last a bit!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 29, 2015 18:55:58 GMT
One of the sculptors was on the tv news this week and she said that they use compacted wet builders sand which has been hammered into dense blocks inside wooden crates. They are all in quite sheltered areas (we've had heavy rain a few times this week already and they didn't crumble) I don't know how long they will remain in situ but I was quite impressed. www.kriii.com/sand-castles-fit-for-a-king/
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Post by mossie on Aug 29, 2015 19:11:39 GMT
Quite fascinating, and those sand sculptors are very clever. I wonder if they have a bit of lime mixed in with the sand to help cement it.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 6, 2015 9:35:05 GMT
Amazing sculptures Cheery! That is one art I cannot understand - how people can envisage the outcome and chisel away until it looks like a wonderous image of a man/woman or child! I think it is just to marvellous for words.
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Post by lola on Sept 7, 2015 18:55:02 GMT
Nice, cheeryp. Thanks. I'd have a go too if they'd let me.
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Post by nycgirl on Sept 8, 2015 2:39:19 GMT
Very cool sculptures!
It's interesting that Richard III may not have been the evil tyrant that Shakespeare depicted him as.
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