In praise of royalty: Kings are the first and the ultimate patrons of fine art

Visiting Buckingham Palace or Versailles Palace, one will get an impression that it is a top-rated museum, given the abundant art works displayed.  Many of our friends are seasoned and world class travelers; they can also attest to it on their visits of many other palaces.

self-portrait of Rubens

Before any museum came into being kings were the biggest patrons of the works of fine art and their palaces the “museums” as we come to know it.  Louvre first opened as a museum during French Revolution in 1793.

Like many other kings, Charles I was a great collector of fine art and a knowledgeable art critic.  Once Peter Paul Rubens, the greatest painter of his days, gave Charles I a painting that was finished by his “assistants”.  Recognizing this was not a work by Rubens himself, the king returned the painting.

In a gesture of saying apology, Rubens sent this self-portrait (we saw this hanging at Buckingham Palace) to the king, knowing the king would be able to appreciate one of his best works.

After the execution of Charles I in 1649, Oliver Cromwell sold all of Charles I’s collection of fine art; only a fraction of which returned upon the Restoration of Charles II.  The victorious Cromwell also ordered the destruction of the Crown Jewels, which was done and the melting of the equestrian statue of Charles I, which was somehow not done.  This statue, casted by a French sculptor, now stands at the Charing Cross, the official center of London.

If you are an art lover, would you be in the camp of Charles I or the Parliamentarian Oliver Cromwell?

Why everyone should root for Royals?

The best World Series is the one goes on to the Game 7 and the champion is not born until the 9^th inning of the Game 7.  To have SF Giants as the World Series champion is worn and stale, it is time to see the fresh blood like Kansas City Royals to be “crowned” as the champion.


German troops entered Paris 6/14/194

After coming back from England or as the Bard would say “this sceptered Isle”, I have a lot of stories to tell why everyone should root for the Royals.

The Battle of France lasted for a bit over one month.  Hitler invaded France on May 10, 1940 and the German troops entered Paris—the “Open City”—on June 14.  You may or may not know it that there were more French troops than German troops facing each other when the war came in 1939 and yet French went under in no time and the England stood alone for one year and half until the Americans came.

King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Churchill inspected the bomb damage to a chapel

The difference is one has royalty, the other has not.  I have written “George VI’s contribution in fighting Hitler Nazi”,

http://doctorjytsai.blogspot.com/2014/05/king-george-vis-contribution-in.html

Having a king and a queen stayed around during the Blitz and the six years of war is worth one million people, troops or civilians.  The above photo is taken from the book we bought at Buckingham Palace showing King George VI and his queen and Churchill inspecting the bomb damage to a chapel.

“God Save the King” is not an empty slogan; the king is the gravity that pull the nation together under the Nazi’s might.  This is my observation; not everyone will buy it, though.

The Giants is leading 3 to 2 at the top of 6^th inning as I am writing.  We had a Royal Day Out on September 22; I am hoping it will not be Royals Out tonight.  Go! Royals, Go!

I wish Calvin were with us at the Royal Albert Hall

On September 23 we managed to spend an evening at the Royal Albert Hall at South Kensington, London.  It is quite fitting to commemorate Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s consort) with such a Hall that has been used to “promote understanding and appreciation of the Arts and Sciences”.   Prince Albert was quite a remarkable man; a man of vision.  Churchill had a lengthy saying and high praise about what he did in his A History of English Speaking People.

The concert (Classic FM Live) ended with a Big Bang, reaching the climax in an incredibly dramatic Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture; the sound and music, the lights and fireworks, and the cannon finale blew us away.  The magic was created by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.  This is how Tchaikovsky moved the Earth and Heaven.

At that moment I was thinking about Calvin; I wish Calvin were with us at the Royal Albert Hall (see comic strip photo); he would also enjoy it, let’s hope this is the beginning of his romance with classic music.

BBC PROMS at Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall during BBC PROMS

Rooting for Kansas City Royals from Royal Sonesta Hotel

Game 5 of the World Series is going on as I am writing.  I wrote “A royalist roots for Royals” before going to Boston to get some education.

http://doctorjytsai.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-royalist-roots-for-kansas-city-royals.html

 

Five-day of Intensive Review of Neurology took place at Royal Sonesta Hotel, a walking distance from where Joy lives.  Looking out from the meeting room, one can see the Museum of Science and Charles River.

 

So I continued to root for Kansas City Royals from Royal Sonesta Hotel.

 

 

 

A Royalist roots for Kansas City Royals: The tale of two statues (Oliver Cromwell and Charles I)

After sweeping LA Angels 4 games and Baltimore Orioles 4 games in ALCS, Kansas City Royals is going to World Series.  Winning 8 games in a row in postseason is a record, I think.

During and after our London-Paris trip Janice has discovered I am more of a royalist than most “subjects” in England or France.  A royalist roots for Royals. Go! Royals! Go!

While in London I was surprised to see the prestige and glory Oliver Cromwell enjoys.  I saw two statues in the yard of the Parliament; one is Henry II (a post about him later), the other is Cromwell (see photo below).  I also saw the major road in the heart of city named after him.  He ordered the unnecessary execution of Charles I; to me he was a regicidal dictator during and after the English Civil War.  This Lord Protector was as autocratic as, if not more than, a king.  Churchill, in his A History of English Speaking People, didn’t have kind words about him, especially for what he did in Ireland that amounted to genocide.

Oliver Cromwell

We also saw the famous bronze equestrian statue of Charles I (see photo below) in Charing Cross, adjacent to Trafalgar Square, facing the nearby Banqueting House, in front of which he was executed in 1649.  Looking further toward the Parliament, Charles I may see Cromwell; the perpetual antagonism

Bronze equestrian Charles I

Charles I’s statue was casted in 1633.  After he was executed Cromwell sold it to a metal smith to be melted.  Having a better sense the metal smith, risked his life, didn’t melt it, instead he hid it until Restoration; otherwise we may not have the good fortune to see the majestic Charles I.  It was also taken down to put it in a safe place during the London Blitz.

Cromwell also ordered the destroy of the crown jewels, so the one we saw in the Tower of London is not the original but the re-made after the Restoration of Charles II.

Cromwell designated his son to take over after his death; wasn’t that what a king did?  The ineptitude of his son led to the Restoration of the Crown.  Cromwell, then buried at Westminster Abbey, was dug up and beheaded. His daughter was also buried at Westminster; they left her alone.

Cromwell was selected as one of the ten greatest Britons of all time in a 2002 BBC poll in Britain.  It is either the British not reading their history or reading the books of revisionists.

Then again it is not too much of a surprise that the Parliamentarians honor one of their own as the English Civil War was the struggle between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians and the latter prevailed.

A statue is made not just by bronze but words; this is a tale of two statues.

I will talk about the excess of the revolutionary of French Revolution while rooting for the Royals during the forthcoming World Series.

Charles I

Oliver Cromwell

An American in Paris: Thomas Jefferson

While in London and Paris, we came across many things we didn’t plan to see or were not even aware its existence.  It was a pleasant surprise to see Thomas Jefferson statue while walking in the Left Bank of Seine, not far from where he lived while serving as the American Minister/Ambassador to France from 1784 to 1789.

Jefferson seriously considered going back to Paris when the political climate was not to his liking in the years of his return to America.  Returning from the cosmopolitan Paris to the rural Charlottesville in Virginia in 1789 must be a culture shock to Jefferson.

Jefferson’s wife had died before he went to France.  I was never too sure as to the nature of his relationship with a French lady, Maria Cosway.

We read a letter to Jefferson written by Maria Cosway on 6/11/1790, “I fear my Dear friend have forgot me: Not one line ever since your Departure from this part of the world!”

As late as 1795, almost 5 years after his return, Jefferson wrote a letter to Cosway, “I am eating the peaches, grapes and figs of my own garden & I only wish I could eat them in your native country, gathered on the spot & in your good company.”  He also suggested a trip with her to Italy, be it other ladies were also invited.

Last weekend after making rounds in the hospital, we made an impromptu trip to the Summit Inn, where Henry Ford and Thomas Edison once slept and dined, to have lunch.  After lunch we followed the inviting colors under the sun, 12 miles along the winding roads, to Ohiopyle State Park, which is 45 miles away from where we live.

We went to London and Paris, in search of civilization; we went to Summit Inn and Ohiopyle Park to escape civilization and we found beauty on both trips.  These photos can attest to it.

Versailles: The chasing of Marie Antoinette at Oeil de Boeuf

While touring the King’s and Queen’s bed chamber at Versailles, Marie Antoinette occupied my mind; she is the most unfairly vilified woman in history.

Oeil de Boeuf

There is a short hallway called “Oeil de Boeuf” (bull-eye) as there are windows looking like “bull-eye” in it, connecting the King’s and Queen’s bed chambers.  One will come across “Oeil de Boeuf” reading Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution, at least 50 or 60 references.

Through this small back door Marie Antoinette escaped

The fateful day was October 5 of 1789. Women in the market place were protesting the high price and shortage of bread; they quickly became a rioting mob, tens of thousands, gathering all the weapons they could lay their hands, marching to Versailles; as one historian said “the female insurrectionary force resembles the English Naval one.”

They broke through the guards, killing two of them, chasing Queen Marie Antoinette through Oeil de Boeuf to King’s bed chamber.  One photo shows the small back door, through which she ran to the Oeil de Boeuf.  Next day they were forced to move to Paris, never returned.

Oeil de Boeuf

The chasing at Oeil de Boeuf is as important an event as the storming of Bastille (7/14/1789) although less well known.  These events marked the turning points for violence in the unpredictable and uncontrollable revolution process.

While in Oeil de Boeuf, seeing the “bull eye” window, Janice and I quickly realized where we were; we thus fired up our imagination, seeing how the queen ran for her life; hearing the clamorous shouting of the mob—the market women; we have “seen” and “heard” more than the other tourists had.

After visiting Notre Dame, we went to Sainte Chapelle nearby; we actually entered it through Palais de Justice, where most of the trials, including that of the King and Queen, took place here during the Revolution.  Marie Antoinette was taken to Conciergie (inside Palais de Justice) as a prisoner on 8/1/1793.  We didn’t go inside to see it; saving some spots for the next trip.  Her execution (10/16/1793, almost nine months after the King’s) took place at Place de la Concorde, where we visited and mourned in the morning of September 27.

The above photo is the plaque saying Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette’s public executions took place at Place de la Revolution, now called Place de la Concorde, where is one end of Champs-Elysees Avenue, the other end is Arc de Triomphe, between which the victory parades after WWI and WWII took place.

You may be interested in reading what Thomas Carlyle wrote about the chasing in Oeil de Boeuf in his French Revolution, written in 1837, forty some years after the event.

The following is what Thomas Carlyle wrote in his French Revolution, “Trembling maids of Honour, . . . hastily wrap the Queen; not in robes of state.  She flies for her life, across the Oeil de Boeuf; against the main door of which too Insurrection batters.  She is in the King’s Apartment, in the King’s arms; she clasps her children amid a faithful few.  The Imperial-hearted bursts into mother’s tears. “O my friends, save me and my children!”  The battering of Insurrectionary axes clangs audible across the Oeil-de-Boeuf.  What an hour!

Queen's bed chamber

King's bed chamber