Note: No image attached
I had postings to Prague, New Delhi (1978-81), Warsaw and Rome- the last two as Director, with postings to the British Council's London HQ in between.
After retiring- from Italy- in 2003 I became Secretary of the Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT), reconnecting with the country in which our young family had spent nearly four very good years. Fifteen very enjoyable years with CWIT ( ending in 2018) meant plenty of contact with museums and museum people in both India and the UK. Grants to young people in the sector continue to be an important of CWIT’s work, especially as both countries seek to tell their respective stories in new, objective ways.
My earliest recollection is not of a museum proper but of an historic object ( albeit one that head been restored ) in Canterbury, which I was taken to see by my grandparent. It’s a Ducking Stool and can be found in the centre of the city by the River Stour. I attach a link to some photographs and also an explanation of its purpose- and the fate of alleged witches that were put in it and ducked in the river.
"For me the two great pluses for the Galleria Borghese- apart from the richness of its collection- are its location and its modest size. As you’ll see from the link it is set in a beautiful park- which incidentally also contains Rome’s replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre constructed in 2002..
The Galleria contains the art collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633), which includes masterpieces from both North and South of the Alps. In 1644 John Evelyn the English diarist described the collection as “an Elysium of Delight”. It is indeed full of delights- but with only twenty rooms visitors aren’t exhausted by either the quantity of impressions or the ground that must be covered!
I would single out for attention the wonderful statues by Bernini, especially his bust of Cardinal Scipione Borghese and the dramatic lifelike sculpture of the Rape of Proserpina. Also Canova’s sculpture of Paolina Borghese. Among the many pictures it’s worth spending time on works by Caravaggio, Titian, Raphael and- a favourite of mine- Dosso Dossi.”