22 July 2014

Marbles

The British Museum is famous for housing the Elgin Marbles. Rather less well known are the marble columns that are part of the staircase in the extension at the north side of the building (King Edward VII galleries), opened in 1914 -

Huge columns, sparsely - and mysteriously - veined. How many times have I walked past them and never seen them? I noticed them after spending a little time drawing the profuse veining in this marble jar-
Minoan, 2500-1800 BC; about 10cm high

1 comment:

Olga Norris said...

Geology is the greatest abstract artist of them all! When we lived in Oxford I used to love visiting the Natural History Museum and looking at the marble columns there.