Charles I insulted by Cromwell's soldiers...

This is quite a good little story in my opinion. The above 'Charles I insulted by Cromwell's soldiers' is by Paul Delaroche (nineteenth century French artist)
It was generally believed that this particular painting was lost forever after a German bombing raid on 11 May 1941 when Bridgewater House (the London home of the Duke of Sutherland was hit by a German bombing raid, and a crater, ten feet deep, opened up in the street. Delaroche’s monumental painting, then hanging in the dining room, received extensive shrapnel damage. It was taken for safe keeping to the Duke's residence on the Scottish borders (as one does) where it was rediscovered this year. It is shortly to be displayed in the National Gallery.



As for the painting itself - it seems to me to be another piety by the now happily largely defunct King Charles the Martyr industry. The expression on the about to be executed monarch's face is that of saintly forbearance. His tormentors leer drunkenly. I suspect somehow that the reality was very different. It ois odd, though, that these matters still preoccupied so much in the nineteenth century (it was originally disoplayed in 1837). Delaroche's other well-known work is the equally sentimental 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey'. Here is our heroine about to cop a decapitation. It all seems a bit much for the woman on the left who appears to have fainted.



On a completely different topic, I have blogged some time ago about my love/hate relationship with folk music. One thing to love is the wonderful voice of Sandy Denny. Here she is with who knows where the time goes. I defy anyone not to find her voice sumptuous. Sadly she died of a brain haemorrhage aged 31.