Faces of Sundborn: Carl Larsson Portraits in the Parish Hall


The Carl Larsson Portrait Collection, Carl Larssons porträttsamling, Sundborn, Sweden The portraits are of local citizens who were involved in keeping village life ticking over.  Larsson painted these ‘fine villagers’ for the parish of Sundborn, and donated the portraits to the village in 1916, with the condition that they remained there and were not moved.  This has clearly been a struggle,…

Basel’s Museum of Culture: Home of the World


Museum of Cultures, Museum der Kulturen, Basel, Switzerland Having realised that I’d not written about the Museum of Ancient Art, I also realised that I’d not written about the excellent Museum of Cultures.  Silly me. The museum has its origins in the 1840s, when artworks and artefacts collected by travellers and merchants were donated to the city.  Over the years,…

Read More »

Democratic Action on Show in Athens’ Agora Museum


Ancient Agora of Athens, Αρχαία Αγορά της Αθήνας, Athens, Greece Athens is full of surprises.  It had those sites which you know are going to be great to visit – like the Parthenon and its museum as well as the National Archaeological Museum – but then you have unexpected delights, like the museum at the Ancient Agora. The museum is housed…

Read More »

Taking a Break at St Michael’s in Budapest


Downtown St Michael’s Church, Belvárosi Szent Mihály-templom, Budapest, Hungary On the bustling pedestrianised shopping street of Váci utca is the dainty baroque church of St Michael.  It’s not exactly the sort of place you’d expect to find among the stores selling Hungarian dolls and various fabric objects with ‘Budapest’ emblazoned across them.  And it’s a nice break from all that.…

Read More »

Death and Memory: Kerameikos Museum


Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Κεραμεικού, Athens, Greece If you have spent any time looking at the funerary stele at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, you will have noticed that many were found in Kerameikos – the ancient cemetery of the city.  Over the years, my interest in stele has dipped in and out, but when I visited Greece…

Read More »

Athenians Remembered: Kerameikos Archaeology


Kerameikos, Κεραμεικός, Athens, Greece One of the most atmospheric spots in Athens, with the natural landscape and the smattering of stones, is the ancient site of Kerameikos.  The fact that it is nestled in a largely residential area, with its big apartment blocks, actually helps to make it even more of an oasis for those of us in search of…

Read More »

The Glories of Greece in Athens’ Benaki Museum


Benaki Museum, Μουσείο Μπενάκη, Athens, Greece In a beautiful white neo-classical house near the Greek Parliament and government offices, there lies a vast collection of beautiful and fascinating objects which show off the glory of Greek life through the ages.  This is not a state museum, underfunded and showing the need for investment, but a fine example of what all…

Read More »

Athens’ National Archaeological Museum Part Two: Gods and Mortals


…continued from Part One… The incredible collection of statues in the National Archaeological Museum shows the continuation of the Greek efforts to create three dimensional figures, first to depict deities, then to commemorate individuals. I know that a lot of people don’t like Archaic art – that is, the style that was in vogue before the Classical style, which is…

Read More »