View allAll Photos Tagged completion
Sagrada Família Barcelona, Spain - situation 2017
Construction of the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família began in 1882. The temple is still under construction, with completion expected in 2026. It is perhaps the best known structure of Catalan Modernism, drawing over three million visitors annually. Architect Antoni Gaudi worked on the project until his death in 1926, in full anticipation he would not live to see it finished.
Gaudi was appointed architect in 1883 at 31 years of age, following disagreements between the temple’s promoters and the original architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano. He maintained del Villar’s Latin cross plan, typical of Gothic cathedrals, but departed from the Gothic in several significant ways. Most notably, Gaudi developed a system of angled columns and hyperbolical vaults to eliminate the need for flying buttresses. Rather than relying on exterior elements, horizontal loads are transferred through columns on the interior. La Sagrada Familia utilizes three-dimensional forms comprised of ruled surfaces, including hyperboloids, parabolas, helicoids, and conoids. These complex shapes allow for a thinner, finer structure, and are intended to enhance the temple’s acoustics and quality of light. Gaudi used plaster models to develop the design, including a 1:10 scale model of the main nave measuring five meters in height and width by two meters in depth. He also devised a system of strings and weights suspended from a plan of the temple on the ceiling. From this inverted model he derived the necessary angles of the columns, vaults, and arches. This is evident in the slanted columns of the Passion facade, which recall tensile structures but act in compression.
Gaudi embedded religious symbolism in each aspect of La Sagrada Familia, creating a visual representation of Christian beliefs. He designed three iconic facades for the basilica, the Glory, Nativity, and Passion facades, facing south, east, and west, respectively. The sculpting of the Nativity facade recalls smooth, intricate corbelling and was overseen by Gaudi. The Passion Facade is characterized by the work of Josep Maria Subirachs, whose angular sculptures extend the modernist character of the temple. The sculptor Etsuro Sotoo is responsible for the window ornaments and finials, which symbolize the Eucharist. The central nave soars to a height of 45 meters, and is designed to resemble a forest of multi-hued piers in Montjuïc and granite. The piers change in cross section from base to terminus, increasing in number of vertices from polygonal to circular. The slender, bifurcating columns draw the eye upward, where light filters through circular apertures in the vaults. These are finished in Venetian glass tiles of green and gold, articulating the lines of the hyperboloids.
Once completed, La Sagrada Familia will feature eighteen towers. Four bell towers representing the Apostles crown each facade, reaching approximately 100 meters in height. At the north end, a tower representing the Virgin Mary will stand over the apse. The central tower will reach 72 meters in height and symbolize Christ, surrounded by four towers representing the Evangelists. Even as construction continues, older portions are undergoing cleaning and restoration. The temple has relied entirely on private donations since its inception, and has seen many delays due to lack of funding. A particularly significant setback occurred during the Spanish Civil War, when Gaudi’s workshop was destroyed, including much of the documentation he left behind. Subsequent generations of craftsman and architects have relied on the remaining drawings and plaster models to advance the project, adhering to Gaudi’s vision as closely as possible. As a result, the design of the temple is a collaboration spanning centuries. Gaudi himself viewed the project as the collective work of generations. "I will grow old but others will come after me. What must always be conserved is the spirit of the work, but its life has to depend on the generations it is handed down to and with whom it lives and is incarnated."
In recent decades, La Sagrada Familia has adopted contemporary digital design and construction technologies. Architects and craftsmen use Rhinoceros, Cadds5, Catia, and CAM to understand the complex geometries and visualize the building as a whole. Plaster models are still used as a design tool, now generated by a 3-D printer to accelerate the process.
Architect: Antoni Gaudi
Present Chief Architect: Jordi Fauli
Former Chief Architects: Jordi Bonet, Francesc de Paula Quintana i Vidal, Isidre Puig i Boada, Lluís Bonet i Garí, , Francesc de Paula del Villar y Lozano
Deputy Chief Architects: Carles Buxadé, Joan Margarit, Josep Gómez Serrano
Technical Consultants: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Project Department: Jordi Coll, Andrés de Mesa
Sculptors: Etsuro Sotoo, Josep Maria Subirachs
Stained Glass: Joan Vila-Grau
Area: 4.500 m2
This bus was purchased by its current owner, good friend and fellow preservationist two years ago from Mike Nash in Surrey.
To say she was no better than scrap value was an understatement and a project that 99% of us would have shunned and ran a mile, I know I would of.
Once purchased he set about getting her towed back from Hampshire, and has had her sat in this workshop, the compact and bejeu premises of CFC in Chandlers Ford, where work has been on an as and when basis, as the money has been available, but the company should receive a pat on their back for allowing this to happen.
19 months down the line and after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, she is almost ready to have the Hants & Dorset Vinyls, Legals, Fleetnumbers, Depot Codes and all the finishing bits done, before she is released to the General public some point in late August or Early September.
3645 has become the second of 5 vehicles to join the Newly Formed and slowly growing "Hampshire & Dorset Group". If you are interested in seeing how this amazing transformation of Gillian has taken place, follow the link below.
Dirty Girty Project
The Hampshire & Dorset Group
www.hampshireanddorsetgroup.co.uk/index.html
P.S Most of the H&D/W&D vehicles received names, 3645 is nicknamed Gillian where as my VR 3455 is nicknamed Henry.
The refurbishment of Stratford upon Avon station is nearly complete. 172215 is the rear unit on the 12.03 to Stourbridge Junction.
Content description: Jim Sims (CEO of Cambridge Technology Partners) in hard hat, white coat, and white pants at 8 Cambridge Center foundation completion ceremony walking across the image.
Local identifier: 020_01_03_020
Type of resource: still image
Genre/form: black-and-white prints (photographs)
Date: 1998-04
Physical description: 1 photograph : print, black and white ; 25.4 x 20.3 cm
Digital origin: reformatted digital
General notes: Title and content description from related item.
Date notes: Date from related item.
Acquisition notes: Donated by the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority in July 2014.
Description standard: dcrmg
Subject headings:
Cambridge Redevelopment Authority
Boston Properties, Inc.
Kendall Square (Cambridge, Mass.)
Construction industry
Urban renewal--Massachusetts--Cambridge
Host collection: Cambridge Redevelopment Authority Records, 1952-2000
Physical location: Cambridge Public Library
Conditions Governing Use: The material in this collection is subject to copyright and intellectual property restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to understand and observe copyright law and to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyright. Researchers must obtain written permission from the copyright holder(s) if they wish to publish materials from this collection. Questions concerning copyright and permission to publish should be directed to the Cambridge Room, Cambridge Public Library Archives and Special Collections.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection: [Identification of item], Cambridge Redevelopment Authority Records, 1952-2000, 020, [Box#, Folder title], Cambridge Room, Cambridge Public Library Archives and Special Collections.
For more from this collection: cambridgeroomcollections.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/cambrid...
One of the oldest techniques in psychology, Sentence Completion often has been used to understand creativity, imagination, and personality.
How would you fill in the blank?
The City (Meadow) Shaft Cornish Engine House after completion of restoration in 1993.
Camera: Contax RTSII + Carl Zeiss f2.8 28mm Distagon lens.
For more photographs please click here: www.jhluxton.com/The-35mm-Film-Archive/Mines-of-Wales/Min...
The history of Minera Lead Mines, near Wrexham, date back to the reign of Edward I of England.
Today’s remains date back Victorian times when following the acquisition of the mines by the well known mining company of John Taylor & Sons in 1845 resulted in the formation of the Minera Mining Company.
Falling prices for lead and zinc ore in the early 20th Century forces mines to close with pumping ceasing in 1909 and the equipment being sold off by 1914.
During the 1980s much effort was expended by the local authority in reclaiming land and opening a heritage attraction on the site. This included the undertaking of extensive archaeological work and the restoration of the classic Cornish engine house at City Shaft (aka Meadow Shaft).
Today the attraction has rather limited opening hours, usually restricted to weekends during the summer school holidays and booked appointments, though the main site itself is open as a country park.
It has been a while since I updated this album even though I have amassed over 4,000 photos of the harbours progress to date July 2021.
Covid has delayed the original completion date though since January 2021 the construction has moved on at a breath taking pace, today July 5th 2021, I post my latest captures for those with a similar interest in the site to peruse and enjoy.
Previous Notes I have Posted Belloe.
I have followed this project at Nigg Bay Aberdeen Scotland for over 2 years now, visiting regularly to capture its progress, I post some of my photos to Flickr for other members interested in construction and shipping to peruse and enjoy.
Aberdeen South Harbour 2019.
Aberdeen Harbour Expansion Project Approval Announced
Commencement of a £350 million project to expand facilities at Aberdeen Harbour, which was recently granted planning consent in the form of Marine Licenses and a Harbour Revision Order by the Scottish Government, was yesterday sanctioned by Aberdeen Harbour Board. The construction contract with its preferred bidder, Dragados UK is due to be formalised at a signing ceremony today (20th December).
“We are delighted that, after six years of detailed planning and extensive consultation with our many stakeholders and the regulatory authorities, we are now in a position to approve commencement of construction”, stated Colin Parker, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Harbour Board.
Following a detailed engagement process, Aberdeen Harbour Board, in partnership with Dragados UK, a main contractor, will develop facilities over the next three years that will represent a step change in the marine support capabilities in Scotland. These will transform the port’s ability to accommodate the trend for larger vessels we are witnessing across a whole range of industries.
The expansion will afford existing customers the opportunity to diversify and expand their interests, whilst attracting new customers and markets to the port, including up-scaled decommissioning activity, a more significant share of the available cruise vessel fleet and larger more cost-effective commercial vessels”.
Alistair Mackenzie, Chairman of Aberdeen Harbour Board added, “Aberdeen Harbour has been in existence for almost 900 years. Its longevity can be attributed to its ability to adapt to changing trading requirements and being forward-thinking in delivering new and improved facilities to support its customers, while at the same time attracting new business.
This major new chapter in the port’s history continues this approach and underpins the Trust Port ethos of viewing future generations as key stakeholders. We believe that the infrastructure developed in Nigg Bay will encourage and support the continued prosperity of the city and region that the harbour serves and make a significant national economic contribution”.
The development, which is a Scottish Government National Planning Framework (3) Project and is scheduled to be completed by 2020, was welcomed by the Minister for Transport and the Islands, Humza Yousaf, who said: “This is excellent news for Aberdeen and the Scottish maritime industry, as the signing of the construction contract means this nationally significant project can now get underway in earnest.
The significant investment will bring jobs and business to Aberdeen, supporting the local and national economy. The historic harbour will be transformed to accommodate larger vessels, opening up potential new revenue streams and offering customers world-class marine support facilities.
These are exciting times for Aberdeen Harbour. I wish everyone involved in the project every success and I very much look forward to following the expansion as it progresses.”
Dragados UK were named as the Board’s preferred bidder in September this year, and the company announced that they plan to commence construction on site in early 2017.
The new facilities will include 1,400 metres of new quay, with a water depth of up to 10.5 metres and will create an additional 125,000 square metres of lay-down area. An independent study, commissioned by Scottish Enterprise, estimates that the development will generate an additional £1 billion per annum to the economy by 2035, and will create an additional 7,000 equivalent jobs.
Funding arrangements for the project incorporated commercial borrowing from the European Investment Bank, and funding from the Aberdeen City & Region Deal. Support for the project’s feasibility study was also received from Scottish Enterprise and from the 2013 Annual Programme Call of the European Commission’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Programme.
Jonathan Taylor, Vice President of the European Investment Bank also commented: “Continued investment at Europe’s leading ports is essential to improve infrastructure and to cater for ever-changing shipping needs. The European Investment Bank is pleased to support the transformational Nigg Bay development that will significantly increase quayside space, allow deep-water access for larger vessels and ensure Aberdeen’s continued strong contribution to the Scottish economy.”
Snapped nearing completion, a restoration project to further showcase something of Foxton's cultural past.
The building was purchased by ex Wellingtonians Jim and Sarah Harper around mid 2015 and who are converting it into a sound museum of sorts, a building which was originally the Manawatu Herald office building.
No doubt the building will prove popular with visiting photographers.
Newspaper publishing began in the Foxton area in the 1870s when the Manawatu was opened up for European settlement. In this period Foxton’s port was developed and the town was linked by coach and rail to the main centres in the lower North Island.
The Manawatu Herald was founded by brothers George Warren Russell and John Ruffell Russell in 1878. It was the first paper published in Foxton, following unsuccessful attempts in 1873 to publish a newspaper called the Manawatu Guardian. George Russell had worked on newspapers in Invercargill and Wellington and went on to work on others, in particular the Spectator in Christchurch. He was also a prominent Member of the House of Representatives and cabinet minister during the First World War.
George Russell did not stay with the Herald for long. By 1882 he had moved on to the Manawatu Times in Palmerston North leaving his brother with the Foxton paper. The Herald was sold to Ernest Thynne in 1889. During Thynne’s tenure the Herald had a rival paper to contend with, the Foxton Telegraph, which ran for four years from 1896. The local council appear to have encouraged the Telegraph by dividing council advertising between it and the Herald. This was probably because Thynne and the Herald represented the rural lobby in Foxton.
In 1906 Thynne sold the paper to John Knowles Hornblow. Hornblow came from a family of newspapermen; his father wrote for the New Zealand Times, and Hornblow and his brothers worked on various Wairarapa newspapers. Hornblow owned the Wairarapa Standard in Greytown before taking over the Herald.
When Hornblow took over the Herald, Foxton was a town with prospects, but sadly later went into decline with the closure of the wharf on the Manawatu River and the branchline railway which ran to Palmerston North..
Hornblow and his son Robert managed to keep the Herald running, with Robert taking over as proprietor after his father died in 1937. The paper changed hands several more times before ceasing publication in 1997.
The Herald was initially published twice a week then moved to thrice weekly in 1890, back to bi-weekly in 1944 and then weekly from 1956. In 1955 the title was changed to the Foxton Herald and in 1961 it reverted to the Manawatu Herald.
A touch of old hollywood meets modern chic. This home came with extra personality in each space. We had fun creating her vision and the results were nothing short of Glamorous!
Completion of the structure that will provide location for lighting, and travel protection. Eventually removable 'roof' panels will be added.
Information supplied by the York Civic Trust. yorkcivictrust.co.uk/heritage/civic-trust-plaques/george-...
In 1911 the city of York belatedly recognised Etty. A statue of Etty by G. W. Milburn was unveiled on 1 February outside the York Art Gallery in Exhibition Square, and a retrospective of 164 Etty paintings was held at the gallery despite opposition from some of Etty's descendants who refused to lend works for it. William Wallace Hargrove, proprietor of the York Herald, gave a speech recalling his memories of knowing Etty. Outside York, Etty generally remained little-known, with the majority of those galleries holding his works, other than the Lady Lever Art Gallery, the Russell-Cotes Museum and Anglesey Abbey, tending to keep them in storage. Minor Etty exhibitions in London in 1936 and 1938 had little impact, and likewise an exhibition of 30 Etty paintings in 1948 to mark the reopening of the York Art Gallery and another York exhibition of 108 paintings the following year to mark the centenary of his death. In 2001–02 five Etty paintings were included in Tate Britain's landmark Exposed: The Victorian Nude exhibition, which did much to raise Etty's profile, and established Etty as "the first British artist to paint the nude with both seriousness and consistency". The restoration of The Sirens and Ulysses, completed in 2010, led to increased interest in Etty, and in 2011–12 a major exhibition of Etty's works was held at the York Art Gallery. The York Art Gallery continues to hold the largest collection of Etty's works.
George Walker Milburn (1844-1941)
Woodcarver, Stonemason and Sculptor
Plaque erected in St Leonard’s Place, YO1 7HD
George Walker Milburn, master woodcarver, stonemason and sculptor, was born in Goodramgate, York on 17 June 1844. He was the eighth of ten children of Lionel Altimont Milburn, a York tailor, and his wife, Elizabeth Clapham, of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. Little is certain about George’s childhood years but, in his early teens, he was apprenticed as a woodcarver to William Alfred Waddington, “Pianoforte Manufacturer”, who was based at 44 Stonegate, York. He attended York School of Art where he won several medals and awards. A head modelled by Milburn so impressed the sculptor Thomas Woolner RA that he offered the young student the opportunity to study with him, but Milburn felt obliged to decline as he had already commenced his apprenticeship. In 1865, having completed his woodcarving studies, George went to London to study stone-carving with Samuel J. Ruddock. While there he exhibited a medallion of the stained-glass artist Charles Hardgraves at the Royal Academy of Art.
George returned to York around 1872 and set up his own stone yard at 53 Gillygate. One of his first commissions was for the architect George Edmund Street on the massive project to restore the South Transept of York Minster. Street employed the young carver to execute a large portion of the decorative stonework on the interior and exterior during the eight years of restoration (1872-80). Street was sufficiently impressed by George’s artistry that he took him to Corfe Castle in Dorset to work on St James’ Church at Kingston, the church described as “The Jewel of the Purbecks”. In addition to Street, George worked with many other leading architects of the Victorian and Edwardian era including Sir George Gilbert Scott, Charles Clement Hodges, Charles Hodgson Fowler, and Walter H. Brierley.
York’s first public statue
In 1885 George Milburn won the competition to execute a statue to commemorate George Leeman MP, three times Lord Mayor of York and a dominant figure in 19th-century York politics. Some felt that George had insufficient experience to execute the work and the controversy rumbled on in the York newspapers for many months. He took an enormous financial gamble, signing a potentially punitive contract with York City Council which would have ruined him had he failed. But the gamble paid off and York’s first public statue established him as a sculptor in addition to his already established reputation as a stone- and woodcarver.
George Milburn’s stoneyard in St Leonard’s Place between Bootham Bar and the De Grey Rooms
About this time, George moved his stone yard to St Leonard’s Place at Bootham where it would remain for more than 50 years. He would go on to be awarded commissions for a statue of Queen Victoria for the Guildhall and a statue of William Etty which stands in Exhibition Square. While the Victoria statue also caused rumblings of discontent in the press, it was less to do with the choice of sculptor than with political squabbling over whether a statue was the correct form of memorial with which to honour the late Queen. On its completion, the statue received widespread praise. When unveiled by the Queen’s daughter, Princess Henry of Battenberg, she broke with protocol and shook the sculptor’s hand.
Ecclesiastical and secular work
George left a large body of work, ecclesiastical and secular. He carved almost 50 memorial crosses and executed works for more than 150 churches. A small sample of his stone-carving includes the impressive Boer War Memorial Cross at Durham Cathedral; the Bede Cross at Roker, Sunderland; the statues for the elaborate Reredos at St Aidan’s Church, Bamburgh; the Reredos at St Peter-at-Gowts, Lincoln; and multiple pulpits and fonts including St Barnabas’ Church in York, St Aidan’s in Hartlepool, and All Saints in Lincoln. His woodwork, equal to though less recognised than that of Robert Thompson, can be seen in the tracery panels for the magnificent double organ at Howden Minster, the organ screen for St Helen’s Church at Escrick, the chancel screen at Melton Mowbray and the beautiful reredos in St Benet’s Chapel at Ampleforth Abbey.
His mastery of both stone- and woodcarving can be seen at St Thomas’ Parish Church at Stockton-on-Tees where he sculpted the large stone cartouche over the east window and the elaborate oak bench ends in the choir, and at St Andrew’s Church at Bournemouth in Dorset where he carved the delightful oak figures for the choir, six stone statues and a beautiful alabaster reredos of the Annunciation. His works for private houses included Hawkstone Hall, Shropshire; the chapel at Hatfield College, Durham; Dunollie Hall, Scarborough; Carlton Towers, East Yorkshire; Gray’s Court, York; the renowned Arts and Crafts-style house, Goddards, York; and the chapel at Castle Howard.
National reputation
While his works were predominantly in Yorkshire and the North-East of England, his work can be found throughout the country, from Bournemouth in Dorset to Edinburgh where he carved the statue of John Hunter on the façade of the National Portrait Gallery. Although the Scottish sculptor James MacGillivray Pittendrigh has been credited with the latter, it was George Milburn who sculpted the statue from a miniature by Pittendrigh. Works can be found in almost 20 counties throughout the UK including Lincolnshire, Kent, Shropshire, Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Norfolk.
In York alone the list of his works includes the William Etty, Queen Victoria and George Leeman statues and works for York Minster, York Art Gallery, York Explore Library, St Barnabas’ Church, St Chad’s at Knavesmire; St Olave’s Church, St Wilfrid’s Church, Holy Trinity Church, All Saints Pavement, Barclays Bank, Beckett’s Bank (now Starbucks), Jacob’s Well in Micklegate, St Sampson’s Church, St Andrew’s Church at Bishopthorpe, Fulford Church and many others. He found time in his busy career to make a positive contribution to some of York’s many societies; he was a member of the York Philosophical Society, an active supporter of the York School of Art and a frequent lecturer.
Family life
In his private life, he was a practising Catholic – although he seems to have had a relaxed attitude about the strict adherence to church rules; his first marriage, to Ellen Ward, was at St Wilfrid’s Church; his second, to Isabella Fletcher, took place at St Olave’s Church in Marygate. Like many Victorians, he suffered a series of family tragedies; his first child, Lionel, died at the age of one; his first wife, Ellen, died of TB in 1885 at the age of 28, shortly after giving birth to their fourth child, Norah; Norah herself died one year later. In all, of five children in his two marriages, only two survived into adulthood. His second marriage, to Isabella Fletcher, in 1888, lasted until her death in 1924. With his son, Wilfrid Joseph Milburn, the two worked as G.W. Milburn & Son from the stone yard at St Leonard’s Plac
George had an exceptionally long career, working well into his eighties and living through enormous changes in his native city. Born in the seventh year of Victoria’s reign, when Sir Robert Peel was Prime Minster and York a city with a population of barely 40,000, his work straddled two centuries and honoured the dead of two wars: the Boer War and the First World War. During his lifetime the population of York expanded to more than 123,000 inhabitants. Few others can claim to have lived and worked continuously in one city through a period of such enormous change. He died in York City Hospital, Huntington Road on 3 September 1941.
His importance to York can be gauged by the judgement of his fellow artists and peers. John Ward Knowles, the renowned York stained-glass artist, was of the opinion that for many years stone-carving in York had been ‘confined to the works of ornamental sculpture’ until ‘the higher branch of the art was again resuscitated by George Milburn’. Street reportedly called him ‘the best Gothic sculptor in the country’ and Knowles felt that, in stone-carving, George ‘stood pre-eminently in front of his confrères’.
More than 270 of George Milburn’s works survive but this master craftsman has not received the recognition that he deserves, and most of his extant works remain uncredited, overshadowed by others, such as Robert Beall of Newcastle or Thompson of Kilburn, or even incorrectly ascribed to others.
William Etty RA (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude figures. He was the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes. Born in York, he left school at the age of 12 to become an apprentice printer in Hull. He completed his apprenticeship seven years later and moved to London, where in 1807 he joined the Royal Academy Schools. There he studied under Thomas Lawrence and trained by copying works by other artists. Etty earned respect at the Royal Academy of Arts for his ability to paint realistic flesh tones, but had little commercial or critical success in his first few years in London.
Etty's Cleopatra's Arrival in Cilicia, painted in 1821, featured numerous nudes and was exhibited to great acclaim. Its success prompted several further depictions of historical scenes with nudes. All but one of the works he exhibited at the Royal Academy in the 1820s contained at least one nude figure, and he acquired a reputation for indecency. Despite this, he was commercially successful and critically acclaimed, and in 1828 was elected a Royal Academician, at the time the highest honour available to an artist. Although he was one of the most respected artists in the country he continued to study at life classes throughout his life, a practice considered inappropriate by his fellow artists. In the 1830s Etty began to branch out into the more lucrative but less respected field of portraiture, and later became the first English painter to paint significant still lifes. He continued to paint both male and female nudes, which caused severe criticism and condemnation from some elements of the press.
An extremely shy man, Etty rarely socialised and never married. From 1824 until his death he lived with his niece Betsy (Elizabeth Etty). Even in London he retained a keen interest in his native York, and was instrumental in the establishment of the town's first art school and the campaign to preserve York city walls. While he never formally converted from his Methodist faith, he was deeply attached to the Roman Catholic Church and was one of the few non-Catholics to attend the 1838 opening of Augustus Pugin's chapel for St Mary's College, Oscott, at that time England's most important Roman Catholic building.
Etty was prolific and commercially successful throughout the 1840s, but the quality of his work deteriorated throughout this period. As his health progressively worsened he retired to York in 1848. He died in 1849, shortly after a major retrospective exhibition. In the immediate aftermath of his death his works became highly collectable and sold for large sums. Changing tastes meant his work later fell out of fashion, and imitators soon abandoned his style. By the end of the 19th century the value of all of his works had fallen below their original prices, and outside his native York he remained little known throughout the 20th century. Etty's inclusion in Tate Britain's landmark Exposed: The Victorian Nude exhibition in 2001–02, the high-profile restoration of his The Sirens and Ulysses in 2010 and a major retrospective of his work at the York Art Gallery in 2011–12 led to renewed interest in his work.
York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in York, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. The building is a Grade II listed building and is managed by York Museums Trust.
The gallery was created to provide a permanent building as the core space for the second Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition of 1879, the first in 1866 having occupied a temporary chalet in the grounds of Bootham Asylum. The 1866 exhibition, which ran from 24 July to 31 October 1866 was attended by over 400,000 people and yielded a net profit for the organising committee of £1,866. A meeting of this committee in April 1867 committed to "applying this surplus in providing some permanent building to be devoted to the encouragement of Art and Industry".
The result was the development of a second exhibition, housed in a newly constructed building designed by a York architect named Edward Taylor; a series of 189 drawings, watercolours and sketches for the proposed gallery were produced by Taylor in the period 1874–1878. The architectural plan for the building changed considerably during this time, from an 'Elizabethan' style to an 'Italian' style – neither were fully realised in the final design. The building first opened on 7 May 1879.
The site for the 1879 exhibition was an area in the grounds of the medieval St Mary's Abbey known as 'Bearparks Garden'. It is fronted by what became Exhibition Square, which was cleared by the demolition of a house and the former Bird in Hand Hotel. The art gallery consisted of an entrance hall, central hall, north and south galleries and on the upper floor a Grand Picture Saloon. Its intended grand classical façade decorated with 18 stone figures, a carved tympanum and 14 mosaics was not done for financial reasons and it was decorated instead with two tiled panels representing 'Leonardo expiring in the arms of Francis I', and 'Michaelangelo showing his Moses', together with four ceramic roundels depicting York artists William Etty (painter), John Carr (architect), John Camidge (musician), and John Flaxman (sculptor). To the rear of the building was a large temporary exhibition hall with machinery annex. The exhibition hall itself measured 200 ft (61 m) by 90 ft (27 m) and had aisles on each side with galleries above. A large organ was placed in the building, originally built in 1862 by William Telford of Dublin. The roof of the building was over 60 ft (18 m) above. Each side of the covered way between the hall and the stone building was used for refreshments with a cafe on one side and a first-class lounge on the other. A large cellar was excavated below in order to store liquor for these rooms.
The exhibition hall was intended to be used only for three years, but remained in use for meetings, concerts and other functions until 1909 and was not demolished until the Second World War.
Following the 1879 exhibition the renamed Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Institution aimed to create a permanent art exhibition. It was given a major boost by the bequest of York collector John Burton (1799–1882) of more than one hundred 19th-century paintings, supplemented by gifts and in the early years two major temporary loan collections. In 1888 the north galleries were leased to York School of Art, which moved there in 1890 from Minster Yard.
York City Council purchased the buildings and collection in 1892. Temporary summer exhibitions ceased in 1903 but a major exhibition of the work of York artist William Etty was held in 1911 when his statue by local sculptor George Walker Milburn was erected outside.
In 1888 the north wing was leased to York Art School which added a further storey in 1905, and after that the wing was vacated by the school. It housed the city archives from 1977 to 2012.
The period up to the commencement of the Second World War was one of modest growth, the major event being purchase of the Dr William Arthur Evelyn collection of prints, drawings and watercolours of York in 1931. The building was requisitioned for military purposes at the outbreak of the Second World War and closed, suffering bomb damage during the Baedeker Blitz on 29 April 1942.
The gallery reopened in 1948 with a small temporary exhibition before a major restoration in 1951–52 after which began a major revival of fortune under the direction of Hans Hess. He made important acquisitions with the assistance of the York Art Collection Society founded in 1948 (later Friends of York Art Gallery) and the National Art Collections Fund, and then in 1955 the donation of FD Lycett Green's collection of more than one hundred continental Old Master paintings. As a result of the systematic build up under Hess and his successors, the gallery has a British collection especially of late-19th-century and early-20th-century works with some French works representative of influential styles.
In 1963 the gallery was given Eric Milner-White's collection of studio pottery.
In 1979 a 15th-century painting of the Angel Gabriel and five saints by an artist of the Nuremberg School was stolen from the gallery. It was recovered and returned to the gallery in 2023 after an auction house in Dorchester linked it to a listing on the Art Loss Register.
In the 1990s and 2000s the collection was supplemented by other major donations and loans, most notably those of WA Ismay and Henry Rothschild (1913–2009).
In January 1999 the gallery was victim of an armed robbery, during which staff were tied up and threatened, and over £700,000 of paintings were stolen. At closing time, four members of staff were threatened by two men bearing pistols and wearing ski masks. They took a watercolour by J. M. W. Turner from a display case and 19 other paintings from the walls, cutting some of those from their frames.
The main perpetrator, Craig Townsend, was arrested by armed police when he, and another man, arrived at an arranged meeting with an art dealer to sell the stolen paintings. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail at York Crown Court in February 2000 for the robbery.
The gallery underwent a £445,000 refurbishment in 2005, reopening on 19 March. This development was supported by a £272,700 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £85,000 from the City of York Council.
A restoration in 2013–15 cost £8 million, and was undertaken to increase display space by some 60%, including reincorporation of the north wing, an upper-floor extension to the south wing, and reorganisation of the internal space for exhibition and storage. The development enabled the area to the rear of the building to be restored to public use as part of the Museum Gardens. The reopened gallery houses the British Studio Ceramics on the upper floor. The gallery reopened on 1 August 2015, charging an admission fee for the first time since 2002. The first year after the gallery reopened with a new charging structure saw visitor numbers fall by over 120,000 to 91,896 compared to the year 2011–2012 when there was no admission charge.
During the 2020 exhibition of paintings by Harland Miller ("Harland Miller: York, So Good They Named it Once") it was reported that commemorative posters sold in the Art Gallery gift shop were being resold online for up to £1,000. The posters depicted a reworked version of Miller's 2009 work 'York – So Good They Named It Once'; part of his 'Pelican Bad Weather' series of humorous book covers.
In November 2020 the gallery announced that it had acquired works following a successful application to the Derbyshire School Library Service, which had owned the works but closed in 2018. The works acquired are by four British artists: Prunella Clough, Margaret Mellis, Marion Grace Hocken, and Daphne Fedarb.
The gallery has more than 1,000 paintings. Western European paintings include 14th-century Italian altarpieces, Annibale Carracci's early 17th-century Portrait of monsignor Giovanni Battista Agucchi, 17th-century Dutch morality works, and 19th-century works by French artists who were predecessors and contemporaries of the Impressionists. British paintings date from the 16th century onward, with 17th and 18th-century portraits and paintings by Giambattista Pittoni and vedutas by Bernardo Bellotto, Victorian morality works and early 20th-century work by the Camden Town Group associated with Walter Sickert being particularly strong. Among the contemporaries, Paul Nash, L. S. Lowry and Ben Nicholson and the Swiss-born Luigi Pericle. Amongst York born artists the gallery has the largest collection of works by William Etty and good paintings by Albert Moore. Henry Keyworth Raine, the great nephew of William Powell Frith, gifted various works, including a portrait of George Kirby (1845–1937), the First Curator of York Art gallery.
The gallery holds a collection of British studio ceramics with more than 5,000 pieces. They include works by Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, William Staite Murray, Michael Cardew, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Jim Malone and Michael Casson.
The collection of more than 17,000 drawings, watercolours and prints is particularly strong in views of York, with more than 4,000 examples, largely watercolours and drawings, some by local artists such as Henry Cave, John Harper, John Browne and Patrick Hall. Watercolour artists represented include Thomas Rowlandson, John Varley, Thomas Girtin, J. M. W. Turner, and 20th-century painters Edward Burra, John Piper and Julian Trevelyan. The gallery holds the William Etty archive.
There are more than 3,000 decorative objects particularly from Yorkshire potteries from the 16th century to the early 20th century, Chinese and Korean pottery from the 18th and 19th century, and glassware.
Curators and directors
George KirbyCurator1879–1931
Hans HessCurator1947–1967
Peter TomoryAssistant Curator1950–1956
John IngamellsCurator1967–1977
Richard GreenCurator1977–2003
Caroline WorthingtonCurator of Art2003–2008
Laura TurnerCurator of Art2008–2017
Vera PavlovaSenior Curator of York Art Gallery 2017–2018
Beatrice BertramSenior Curator of York Art Gallery2018 – current
Many exhibitions have taken place in the gallery, of varying sizes and length. The exhibition schedule from 2020 onwards has included a mix of touring exhibitions and internal exhibitions, often linked to wider events in the city and internationally.
Awards
Visit York Tourism Awards: Visitor Attraction of the Year 2016 (Over 50,000 Visitors category) (winner).
Art Fund: Museum of the Year 2016 (finalist).
Kids in Museums: Family Friendly Museum Award 2016 (winner).
European Museum Forum: European Museum of the Year 2017 (nominated). Special commendation received.
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss. It is the county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a minster, castle, and city walls. It is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the wider City of York district. Through the title of Duke of York, it is the namesake of New York City.
The city was founded under the name of Eboracum in 71 AD. It then became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Deira, Northumbria, and Scandinavian York. In the Middle Ages, it became the northern England ecclesiastical province's centre, and grew as a wool-trading centre. In the 19th century, it became a major railway network hub and confectionery manufacturing centre. In the Second World War, part of the Baedeker Blitz bombed the city. Although less targeted during the war than other, more industrialised northern cities, several historic buildings were gutted and restoration took place up until the 1960s.
The city is one of 15 in England to have a lord mayor, and one of three to have "The Right Honourable" title affixed, the others being London's and Bristol's. Historic governance of the city was as a county corporate, not included in the county's riding system. The city has since been covered by a municipal borough, county borough, and since 1996 a non-metropolitan district (the City of York), which also includes surrounding villages and rural areas, and the town of Haxby. The current district's local council is responsible for providing all local services and facilities throughout this area. York's built-up area had a population of 141,685 at the 2021 UK census, and the wider city (the local government district) had a population of 202,800, a 2.4% increase compared to the 2011 census.
The history of York, England, as a city dates to the beginning of the first millennium AD but archaeological evidence for the presence of people in the region of York dates back much further to between 8000 and 7000 BC. As York was a town in Roman times, its Celtic name is recorded in Roman sources (as Eboracum and Eburacum); after 400, Angles took over the area and adapted the name by folk etymology to Old English Eoforwīc or Eoforīc, which means "wild-boar town" or "rich in wild-boar". The Vikings, who took over the area later, in turn adapted the name by folk etymology to Norse Jórvík meaning "wild-boar bay", 'jór' being a contraction of the Old Norse word for wild boar, 'jǫfurr'. The modern Welsh name is Efrog.
After the Anglian settlement of the North of England, Anglian York was first capital of Deira and later Northumbria, and by the early 7th century, York was an important royal centre for the Northumbrian kings. Following the Norman Conquest of 1066 York was substantially damaged, but in time became an important urban centre as the administrative centre of the county of Yorkshire. York prospered during much of the later medieval era; the later years of the 14th and the earlier years of the 15th centuries were characterised by particular prosperity. During the English Civil War, the city was regarded as a Royalist stronghold and was besieged and eventually captured by Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax in 1644. After the war, York retained its pre-eminence in the North, and, by 1660, was the third-largest city in England after London and Norwich.
Modern York has 34 Conservation Areas, 2,084 Listed buildings and 22 Scheduled Ancient Monuments in its care. Every year, thousands of tourists come to see the surviving medieval buildings, interspersed with Roman and Viking remains and Georgian architecture.
Archaeological evidence suggests that people were settled in the region of York between 8000 and 7000 BC, although it is not known if these were permanent or temporary settlements. Polished stone axes indicate the presence of people during the Neolithic period in the area where the city of York is now, especially on the south-west bank of the River Ouse, just outside the city centre near where Scarborough Bridge is now. Evidence for people continues into the Bronze Age with a hoard of flint tools and weapons found by Holgate Beck between the railway and the River Ouse, burials and bronzes found on both sides of the River Ouse and a beaker vessel found in Bootham. Iron Age burials have been found near the area on the south-west bank of the Ouse where the concentration of Neolithic axes was found. Few other finds from this period have been found in York itself, but evidence of a late Iron Age farmstead has been uncovered at Lingcroft Farm 3 miles (4.8 km) away at Naburn.
The Romans called the tribes in the region around York the Brigantes and the Parisii. York may have been on the border between these two tribes. During the Roman conquest of Britain the Brigantes became a Roman client state, but, when their leadership changed becoming more hostile to Rome, Roman General Quintus Petillius Cerialis led the Ninth Legion north of the Humber.
York was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a military fortress (castra) on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss. The fortress was later rebuilt in stone, covered an area of 50 acres, and was inhabited by 6,000 soldiers. The earliest known mention of Eburacum by name is from a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda along Hadrian's Wall, dated to c. 95–104 AD, where it is called Eburaci. Much of the Roman fortress lies under the foundations of York Minster, and excavations in the Minster's undercroft have revealed some of the original walls.
At some time between 109 AD and 122 AD the garrison of the Ninth Legion was replaced by the Sixth Legion. There is no documented trace of the Ninth Legion after 117 AD, and various theories have been proposed as to what happened to it. The Sixth Legion remained in York until the end of Roman occupation about 400 AD. The Emperors Hadrian, Septimius Severus and Constantius I all held court in York during their various campaigns. During his stay, the Emperor Severus proclaimed York capital of the province of Britannia Inferior, and it is likely that it was he who granted York the privileges of a colonia or city. Constantius I died during his stay in York, and his son Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor by the troops based in the fortress.
Economically the military presence was important with workshops growing up to supply the needs of the 5,000 troops garrisoned there and in its early stages York operated a command economy. Production included military pottery until the mid-third century; military tile kilns have been found in the Aldwark-Peasholme Green area, glassworking at Coppergate, metalworks and leatherworks producing military equipment in Tanner Row. New trading opportunities led local people to create a permanent civilian settlement on the south-west bank of the River Ouse opposite the fortress. By 237 it had been made a colonia one of only four in Britain and the others were founded for retired soldiers. York was self-governing, with a council made up of rich locals, including merchants, and veteran soldiers.
Evidence of Roman religious beliefs in York have been found including altars to Mars, Hercules, Jupiter and Fortune, while phallic amulets are the most commonly found type of good luck charm. In terms of number of reference the most popular deities were the spiritual representation (genius) of York and the Mother Goddess; there is also evidence of local or regional deities. There was also a Christian community in York although it is not known when it was first formed and there is virtually no archaeological record of it. The first evidence of this community is a document noting the attendance of Bishop Eborius of Eboracum at the Council of Arles (314), and bishops also attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the Council of Serdica, and the Council of Ariminum.
By 400 AD York's fortunes had changed for the worse. The town was undergoing periodic winter floods from the rivers Ouse and Foss, its wharf-side facilities were buried under several feet of silt and the primary Roman bridge connecting the town with the fortress may have become derelict. By this time Eboracum was probably no longer a population centre, though it likely remained a centre of authority. While the colonia remained above flood levels, it was largely abandoned as well, retaining only a small ribbon of population for a time.
There is little written evidence about York in the centuries following the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410, a pattern repeated throughout Sub-Roman Britain. There is archaeological evidence for continued settlement at York near the Ouse in the 5th century, and private Roman houses, especially suburban villas, remained occupied after the Roman withdrawal.
Some scholars have suggested that York remained a significant regional centre for the Britons, based largely on literary evidence. Several manuscripts of the Historia Brittonum, written c. 830, contain a list of 28 or 33 "civitates", originally used to describe British tribal centres under Roman rule but here translated as Old Welsh cair (caer) and probably indicating "fortified cities". Among these settlements is Cair Ebrauc. Later, the text states that Ida was the first Anglian king of Bernicia and ruler over Cair Ebrauc. These are generally taken as references to a successor to old Roman Eburacum. This mention has led to speculation about Ebrauc in post-Roman times.
Christopher Allen Snyder makes note of the evidence for Eboracum continuing to function, perhaps as a military outpost or the seat of a minor kingdom based on some old territory of the Brigantes. Snyder cites historian and archaeologist Nick Higham in saying that the settlement had declined so much by the end of the Roman period that it was unlikely to have been a significant post-Roman regional centre.
Scholar Peter Field suggests that the City of Legions (urbs legionum) mentioned by Gildas in his 6th-century De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a reference to York, rather than Caerleon; if this were the case it could provide some contemporary information about Ebrauc.
A Peredur son of Efrawg is the hero of a 12th- or 13th-century Welsh romance; this would have been a variant of Ebrauc along with "Efrawg" or "Efrog", suggesting the city had royal associations in later tradition.
What later became parts of the North Riding and City of York were conquered by a Bythonic to early Angle version of Deira, Based around the Derwent.
Angles settled in the area in the early 5th century. Cemeteries that are identifiably Anglian date from this period. Cremation cemeteries from the 6th century have been excavated close to York on The Mount and at Heworth; there are, however, few objects from inside the city, and whether York was settled at all at this period remains unclear. The fortress's fate after 400 AD is not clear, it is unlikely to have been a base of Romano-British power in opposition to the Anglians. Flooded area reclamation would not be initiated until the 7th century under Edwin of Northumbria. After Angle settlement of Northern England, York was the Anglo-capital of Deira and one of the capitals when the kingdom united with Bernicia, later known as Northumbria.
By the early 7th century, York was an important royal centre for the Northumbrian kings, for it was here that Paulinus of York (later St Paulinus) came to set up his wooden church, the precursor of York Minster, and it was here that King Edwin of Northumbria was baptised in 627. The first Minster is believed to have been built in 627, although the location of the early Minster is a matter of dispute.
Throughout the succeeding centuries, York remained an important royal and ecclesiastical centre, the seat of a bishop, and later, from 735, of an archbishop. Very little about Anglian York is known and few documents survive. It is known that the building and rebuilding of the Minster was carried out, along with the construction of a thirty-altar church dedicated to Alma Sophia (Holy Wisdom), which may have been on the same site.
York became a centre of learning under Northumbrian rule, with the establishment of the library and school, the ancestor of St Peter's School. Alcuin, later adviser to Charlemagne, was its most distinguished pupil and then master.
Of this great royal and ecclesiastical centre, little is yet known archaeologically. Excavations on the Roman fortress walls have shown that they may have survived more or less intact for much of their circuit, and the Anglian Tower, a small square tower built to fill a gap in the Roman way, may be a repair of the Anglian period. The survival of the walls and gates shows that the Roman street pattern survived, at least in part, inside the fortress. Certainly excavations beneath York Minster have shown that the great hall of the Roman headquarters building still stood and was used until the 9th century.
By the 8th century York was an active commercial centre with established trading links to other areas of England, northern France, the Low Countries and the Rhineland. Excavations near the junction of the River Foss and River Ouse in Fishergate found buildings dating from the 7th and 9th century. These were located away from the Roman centre of the city may form a trading settlement that served the royal and ecclesiastical century. This and other discoveries indicate an occupation pattern during the 7th to 9th century that followed the line of the rivers, creating a long linear settlement along the River Ouse and extending along some of the River Foss.
In November 866 AD a large army of Danish Vikings, called the "Great Heathen Army", captured York, unopposed due to conflict in the Kingdom of Northumbria. The next year they held the city when the Northumbrians tried to retake it; the army left the same year putting a local puppet king in charge of York and the area around York they controlled. The army returned in 875 and its leader Halfdan took control of York. From York, Viking kings ruled an area, known to historians as "The Kingdom of Jorvik", with Danes migrating and settling in large numbers in the Kingdom and in York. In York the Old Norse placename Konungsgurtha, Kings Court, recorded in the late 14th century in relation to an area immediately outside the site of the porta principalis sinistra, the west gatehouse of the Roman encampment, perpetuated today as King's Square, perhaps indicates a Viking royal palace site based on the remains of the east gate of the Roman fortress. In 954 the last Viking king, Eric Bloodaxe, was expelled and his kingdom was incorporated in the newly consolidated Anglo-Saxon state.
A renowned scholar of this era was Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York.
Several churches were built in York during the Viking Age including St Olave's, built before 1055 on Marygate, which is dedicated to St. Olaf King of Norway and St Mary Bishophill Junior which has a 10th century tower whose height was increased in the early 11th century.
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, York was substantially damaged by the punitive harrying of the north (1069) launched by William the Conqueror in response to regional revolt. Two castles were erected in the city on either side of the River Ouse. In time York became an important urban centre as the administrative centre of the county of Yorkshire, as the seat of an archbishop, and at times in the later 13th and 14th centuries as an alternative seat of royal government. It was an important trading centre. Several religious houses were founded following the Conquest, including St Mary's Abbey and Holy Trinity Priory. The city as a possession of the crown also came to house a substantial Jewish community under the protection of the sheriff.
On 16 March 1190 a mob of townsfolk forced the Jews in York to flee into the castle keep (later replaced by Clifford's Tower), which was under the control of the sheriff. The castle was set on fire and the Jews were massacred. It is likely that various local magnates who were debtors of the Jews helped instigate this massacre or, at least, did nothing to prevent it. It came during a time of widespread attacks against Jews in Britain. The Jewish community in York did recover after the massacre and a Jewish presence remained in York until the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290.
York prospered during much of the later medieval era. Twenty-one medieval parish churches survive in whole or in part, though only eight of these are regularly used for worship. Many medieval era timber-framed buildings survive in the city. While Slum clearances in the 19th century removed some of the more decrepit ancient examples of medieval architecture in the city, such as the medieval Water Lanes, streets such as The Shambles still survive to this day. The Shambles mostly date from the later medieval era with many examples of timber-framed shops with overhanging upper floors. The street was originally occupied by butchers but is now a popular tourist attraction consisting of mostly souvenir shops. Some retain the outdoor shelves and the hooks on which meat was displayed. The medieval city walls, with their entrance gates, known as bars, encompassed virtually the entire city and survive to this day. The city was also designated as a county corporate, giving it effective county status.
The later years of the 14th and the earlier years of the 15th centuries were characterised by particular prosperity. It is in this period that the York Mystery Plays, a regular cycle of religious pageants (or plays) associated with the Corpus Christi cycle and performed by the various craft guilds grew up. Among the more important personages associated with this period was Nicholas Blackburn senior, Lord Mayor in 1412 and a leading merchant. He is depicted with his wife Margaret Blackburn in glass in the (now) east window of All Saints' Church in North Street. There seems to have been economic contraction and a dwindling in York's regional importance in the period from the later 15th century. The construction of the city's new Guildhall around the middle of the century can be seen as an attempt to project civic confidence in the face of growing uncertainty. Brandsby-type ware and Humber ware ceramics were popular in the city at this time.
Few buildings of significance were put up in the century after the completion of the Minster in 1472, the exceptions being the completion of the King's Manor (which from 1537 to 1641 housed the Council of the North) and the rebuilding of the church of St. Michael le Belfrey, where Guy Fawkes was baptised in 1570.
During the dissolution of the monasteries all the monastic institutions in the City were closed including St. Leonards Hospital and in 1539 St. Mary's Abbey. In 1547, fifteen parish churches were closed, reducing their number from forty to twenty-five, a reflection of the decline in the city's population. Despite the English Reformation making the practice of Roman Catholicism illegal, a Catholic Christian community remained in York although this was mainly in secret. Its members included St. Margaret Clitherow who was executed in 1586 for harbouring a priest and Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.
Following his break with Parliament, King Charles I established his Court in York in 1642 for six months. Subsequently, during the English Civil War, the city was regarded as a Royalist stronghold and was besieged and eventually captured by Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax in 1644. After the war, York slowly regained its former pre-eminence in the North, and, by 1660, was the third-largest city in England after London and Norwich.
In 1686 the Bar Convent was founded, in secret due to anti-catholic Laws, making it the oldest surviving convent in England.
York elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons.
The Judges Lodgings is a Grade I listed townhouse that was built between 1711 and 1726 and later used to house judges when they attended the quarterly sessions of the Assizes at York Castle.
On 22 March 1739 the highwayman Dick Turpin was convicted at the York Grand Jury House of horse-stealing, and was hanged at the Knavesmire on 7 April 1739. Turpin is buried in the churchyard of St George's Church, where his tombstone also shows his alias, John Palmer.
In 1740, the city's first hospital, York County Hospital, opened in Monkgate and it moved into larger premises in 1745. The building was funded by public subscription. The building was expanded on the same site in 1851, and finally closed in 1976 when York District Hospital was opened.
In 1796 Quaker William Tuke founded The Retreat, a hospital for the mentally ill, situated in the east of the city outside the city walls, which used moral treatment.
The Yorkshire Museum was opened in 1830, and the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its first meeting here in 1831.
Largely thanks to the efforts of "Railway King" George Hudson, York became a major centre for the railways during the 19th century, a status it maintained well into the 20th century. The Colliergate drill hall was completed in 1872 and the Tower Street drill hall was completed in 1885.
On 29 April 1942, York was bombed as part of the retaliatory Baedeker Blitz by the German Luftwaffe; 92 people were killed and hundreds injured. Buildings damaged in the raid included the Railway Station, Rowntree's Factory, St Martin-le-Grand Church, the Bar Convent and the Guildhall which was completely gutted and not restored until 1960.
During the Cold War the headquarters of the Number 20 Group, Royal Observer Corps was moved to the newly constructed York Cold War Bunker in the Holgate area of town. It was opened on 16 December 1961, was in operation until 1991, and was then turned into a museum owned by English Heritage. In 1971 York was made an army Saluting Station, firing gun salutes five times a year such as the Queen's Birthday. The date marked 1900 years of army in York. The University of York was launched on sites at Heslington and the King's Manor and took its first students in 1963. In 1975 the National Railway Museum was opened, near the centre of York.
In October and November 2000 the River Ouse rose and York experienced very severe flooding; over 300 houses were flooded though no-one was seriously hurt.
The good doctors celebrated the return of spring and the completion of our Pataphysical Slot Machine on a balmy Saturday afternoon.
We held a ritual blessing of the ‘Pataphysical Slot Machine, to guide it on its way to its new home at the Figurines Ranch. We ended with another butt-shaking dance break to cap it all off.
We then gathered in the art garden for a special awards ceremony led by Dr. Truly, who presented the beautiful medals she created for each doctor: they are amazing works of art, carefully designed to highlight the unique talents of each creator. Thank you for these wonderful gifts, Dr. Truly!
In other news, Drs. Rindbrain and Figurine completed a new ‘pataphysical flagpole, with the help of Dr. Maurizzio, visiting from Lucca, Italy. Dr. Pozar hobbled over with his new crutches and supervised the playground with his acolytes, while Dr. Tout d’Suite created more ‘pataphysical talismans and Dr. Jardin decorated her lab coat. Dr. Igor inspected the slot machine one last time and pronounced it ready for next week's move. Dr. Really gave our last slot machine demo in this studio. Drs. Canard and Fabio finally got the sounds to work on Mother of Yes — which was the last thing we wanted to fix before our move. :)
The mojo is stronger than ever in the art garden. Fire in the hole!
View more 'Pataphysical photos: www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/albums/72157623637793277
Watch 'Pataphysical videos: vimeo.com/album/3051039
Learn more about Pataphysical Studios: pataphysics.us/
1934 : construction of engine, transmission and frame
1935 : completion of first version of chassis
1936 : testing period, modifications of chassis, start of body making
1937 : completion of chassis and body for race car
1938 : modification into street car
In 1934 Alfa-Romeo's brilliant engineer Vittorio Jano began secretly developing a racer with a mid-mounted V12 engine. Developed outside the Alfa works in the Fiume (now Rijeka) garage of Gino and Oscar Jankovits, the project stalled when Jano left Alfa-Romeo in 1937. Unable to use the V12, the brothers settled for a less powerful 6C 2300 unit. Their 'Aerospider' remained hidden until 1946, when Gino fled Communist rule, driving under the frontier barrier into Italy in a hail of bullets.
Class XII : Racing cars
Zoute Concours d'Elegance
The Royal Zoute Golf Club
Zoute Grand Prix 2017
Knokke - Zoute
België - Belgium
October 2017
The Postcard
A postally unused postcard published by C. R. Hoffmann of No. 1, The Docks, Southampton. The image is a glossy real photograph, and the card, which has a divided back, was printed in Great Britain.
SS Imperator
RMS Berengaria was originally called the SS Imperator.
SS Imperator was a German ocean liner built for the Hamburg America Line, launched in 1912. At the time of her completion in June 1913, she was the largest passenger ship in the world by gross tonnage, surpassing the new White Star giants, Olympic and Titanic.
Imperator was the first of a trio of successively larger Hamburg American liners that included SS Vaterland (later the United States Liner Leviathan) and SS Bismarck (purchased and renamed Majestic for the White Star Line transatlantic passenger service).
During World War I, the Imperator remained in port in Hamburg. After the war, she was briefly commissioned into the United States Navy as USS Imperator and employed as a transport, returning American troops from Europe.
Following her service with the U.S. Navy, Imperator was handed over to Britain's Cunard Line as part of war reparations where she sailed as the flagship RMS Berengaria for the final decade of her career.
Construction and Early Career
The first plates of Imperator's keel were laid in 1910 at the Vulcan Shipyards in Hamburg, Germany. She made her maiden voyage in 1913. At 52,117 gross register tons, Imperator was the largest ship in the world until Vaterland sailed in May 1914.
Before its launch on the 23rd. May 1912, Cunard announced that its new ship, RMS Aquitania, which was under construction at the time at the John Brown shipyards in Glasgow, would be longer by 1 foot (300 mm).
There was chagrin in Hamburg. Several weeks later, Imperator was fitted with an imposing bronze eagle figurehead which adorned her forepeak. This meant that the length of Imperator surpassed that of Aquitania. The eagle's wings were torn off in an Atlantic storm during the 1914 season, after which the figurehead was removed and replaced with gold scroll-work similar to that on the stern.
On its initial sea trials, the Imperator ran aground on the Elbe river due to insufficient dredging. There was also a flash fire in the engine room which resulted in eight crewmen being taken to hospital.
On her official trials, she suffered overheating of the turbines, and some stability issues were discovered. The trials were therefore abandoned, and the builders were called in to carry out emergency work. Coincidentally, 1913 was the silver jubilee year for the Kaiser, so he was going to be treated to an overnight cruise on the North Sea before the ship would make its maiden voyage. The overnight cruise was cancelled; it was eventually carried out in July of that year.
Imperator left on her maiden voyage on Wednesday, 11th. June 1913. On the way, she stopped at Southampton and Cherbourg before proceeding across the Atlantic to New York, arriving on the 19th. June 1913.
On board were 4,986, consisting of 859 first-class passengers, 647 second-class passengers, 648 third-class passengers, 1,495 in the steerage, and 1,332 crew. The ship returned to Europe from Hoboken, New Jersey, on the 25th. June 1913.
On its first arrival, the harbour pilot assigned to bring it into the New York Ambrose channel noted that the ship listed from side to side when the helm made changes to the ship's direction. She was soon nicknamed 'Listerator'.
In October 1913, Imperator returned to the Vulkan shipyard for work to improve handling and stability, as her centre of gravity was too high. To correct the problem, the marble bathroom suites in first class were removed and heavy furniture was replaced with lightweight wicker cane.
The ship's funnels were reduced in height by 9.8 ft (3 m). Finally, 2,000 tons of cement was poured into the ship's double bottom as ballast. This work cost £200,000, which had to be borne by the shipyard as part of their five-year warranty to the shipowners.
At the same time, an advanced fire sprinkler system was fitted throughout the ship, as several fires had occurred on board since the vessel had entered service.
Imperator returned to service on the 11th. March 1914, arriving in New York five days later on the 19th.
Among its luxurious features, Imperator introduced a two-deck-high, Pompeiian-style swimming pool for its first-class passengers (shown in the photograph).
The Great War and U.S. Navy Service
In August 1914, as the Great War began, she was laid up at Hamburg and remained inactive for more than four years, falling into dilapidation. Following the Armistice of the 11th. November 1918, Imperator was allocated to the United States for temporary use as a transport alongside Vaterland, which was now renamed SS Leviathan and bringing American service personnel home from France.
She was commissioned as the USS Imperator in early May 1919. After embarking 2,100 American troops and 1,100 passengers, Imperator departed Brest, France on the 15th. May 1919, arriving at New York City one week later. She made three cruises from New York to Brest, returning over 25,000 troops, nurses, and civilians to the United States.
Decommissioned at Hoboken, New Jersey in early 1919, it was decided that she would be operated by Cunard. Captain Charles A. Smith and a full crew was sent out to New York and the official handover to Cunard took place on the 24th. November.
Cunard Service
The ship arrived at Southampton on Sunday 10th. December 1919 and then proceeded to Liverpool for what was planned to be a quick overhaul (she was scheduled to leave on her first voyage for the new owners on the 10th. January 1920).
However, upon inspection, the ship was found to be in poor condition. During dry-docking on the 6th. January, it was found that the ship's rudder had a piece missing, and the propellers were suffering from erosion on their leading edges. These issues were attended to while the ship was refurbished with items borrowed from the Cunard vessels Transylvania and Carmania.
Due to the extent of the work that had to be carried out, Imperator remained at Liverpool until the 21st. February. During this time the company's annual dinner was held on board. On the first return journey from New York, Imperator developed a severe list which was found to be caused by a faulty ash ejector. Cunard decided that the ship was in need of a major overhaul, and she was withdrawn from service.
The ship was re-named after the English queen Berengaria of Navarre, wife of Richard the Lionheart, in February 1921.
In September 1925, a security alert at sea was triggered when the Cunard company offices in New York received a message stating there was a bomb aboard Berengaria; the vessel was then 1,200 miles out from New York, bound for Southampton.
The ship was searched although the passengers and most of the crew were not informed as to the reason. A fire drill was held just before the supposed time of detonation, so passengers could be placed close to their lifeboat stations without arousing suspicion. The bomb threat failed to materialise.
The Berengaria was sailing from England to New York when the 1929 Wall Street crash hit, and a number of passengers went from being millionaires to paupers while at sea.
On the 11th. May 1932, Berengaria ran aground in the Solent. She was refloated an hour later.
In May 1934, Berengaria was again in the headlines when she ran aground on mud banks at Calshot on the Solent. she was pulled free by four tugs from Southampton. The vessel suffered no damage and the incident did not affect her sailing schedule.
Despite her German heritage, Berengaria served as flagship of the Cunard fleet until replaced by her sister ship, RMS Majestic (also German: ex-SS Bismarck), in 1934 after the merger of Cunard with White Star Line.
In later years, Berengaria was used for discounted Prohibition-dodging cruises, which earned her the jocular nickname 'Bargain-area'.
Retirement and Scrapping of the Berengaria
Toward the end of her service life, the ship suffered several electrical fires caused by ageing wiring, and Cunard-White Star opted to retire her in 1938.
She was sold to Sir John Jarvis, who had also purchased Olympic, to provide work for unemployed shipbuilders in Jarrow, County Durham. Berengaria sailed for the River Tyne under the command of Captain George Gibbons to be scrapped down to the waterline.
Due to the size of the vessel and the outbreak of the Second World War, final demolition took place only in 1946.
About 90% done, just need to do running gear and electronics next and get the missing drivers I need.
Quick one for the fun of it, right near the end of the "Blue hour".
F10 25s at 18:03 PM. I should have exposed for about 35s (not 25) but the longer you expose, the more light trails and I had the trails I wanted.
Still I think we can see how quickly the blue disappears from the sky. Don't think it's a blue hour in winter. Maybe half an hour.
Captured at 50mm. I haven't tested it 'wider' yet. Will get to that sometime soon.
LUC was responsible for public realm and landscape design for 500 bed student housing development in the Partick area of Glasgow’s West End. LUC deployed a clear hierarchy to the design proposals creating a series of interconnecting primary and secondary spaces. The primary spaces deployed a distinctive paving pattern that was inspired by the rich textures of wheatfields, a nod to the area’s bread mill heritage.
For more information, visit: www.landuse.co.uk
A 5ft image of Our Lady on its first stage of painting.
Completion by the end of November.
______________________________________________________________________
The Apparition
by Marcel Schlewer and Maurice Sublet, MS
Near a little fountain the two children lay down on the grass and fell asleep. How long their slumber lasted is not certain - half an hour perhaps, or three quarters of an hour or possibly more. In any case Melanie suddenly awoke and called Maximin: "Memin, Memin, let us go and find our cows, I cannot see them anywhere."
Of course, being at the bottom of the little ravine, they could not see the meadow where they had left them. Quickly they climbed the slope opposite Mount Gargas (hence they were standing on what is now the esplanade in front of the basilica). Turning around they could view the entire alpine pasture land and were greatly relieved to see that their cows had remained where they had been left, peaceably chewing the cud. Reassured, Melanie began to redescend towards the dried-up fountain to recover her little sack of provisions before once again watering the cows. Half-way down the grassy slope she paused immobilized, frozen with fear. "Memin," she called out, "look at that great light over there." "Where is it?" the boy replied, as he ran and stood at her side. (At the place of the Apparition two statues represent the children on the slope of the ravine, in the first stage of the Event.)
At the very spot where they had slept was a globe of fire, as if, in the children's words, "the sun had fallen there." The light swirled, then grew in size and, opening, disclosed within it a woman, seated, her head in her hands, her elbows on her knees, in the attitude of one oppressed with grief.
Melanie, in her fright, raised her hands and dropped her shepherd's staff. Maximin thought only of defending himself. "Keep your stick," he said to her, "I will keep mine and will give it a good whack if it does anything to us..." Even after she conversed with them, the children could not identify their heavenly Visitor. They would simply call her "The Beautiful Lady."
______________________________________________________________________
The Beautiful Lady
The Beautiful Lady now stood up while the children remained transfixed where they were. She said to them in French: "Come near, my children, be not afraid. I am here to tell you great news."
Fully reassured by these words the children hurried to meet her. Her voice, they said, was like music. They approached so near her that, as they later expressed it, another person could not have passed between them and her. The Lady also took a few steps towards them.
They looked at her and noticed that she did not cease weeping all the time she spoke to them. As Maximin put it, "She was like a mama whom her own children had beaten and who had escaped to the mountain to weep." The beautiful Lady was tall and seemed to be made of light. She was dressed like women of the region with a long dress, an apron nearly as long as the dress, a shawl that crossed over her breast and was knotted in the back, and a cap or bonnet similar to the ones worn by peasant women. Roses crowned her head while another wreath of roses adorned the edges of her white shawl and a third garland surrounded her shoes. Over her brow shone a light in the form of a diadem. On her shoulders shone a heavy chain and from a smaller golden chain hung a resplendent crucifix with a hammer and pincers placed on each side of the Cross, a little beyond the nailed hands.
A touch of old hollywood meets modern chic. This home came with extra personality in each space. We had fun creating her vision and the results were nothing short of Glamorous!
Blessed Be Our Celestial Creation of Cosmic Completion ~*
Rainbow’larium is dedicated to channeling the celestial nature of our Divine Source, and transmitting the Living Light of Love, through photographic projections of Pure Love and Divine Light. These magical mandalas of crystal creation, consciously connect with the Living Light of Love inside our very own Crystal Rainbow Hearts, awakening our own true Rainbow natures, and blissfully blessing our own enlightened Rainbow Realities *~8~8~*
Crystal Creation of Rainbowlarium.com
Copyright © John G. Lidstone, all rights reserved.
I hope you enjoy my work and thanks for viewing.
NO use of this image is allowed without my express prior permission and subject to compensation/payment.
I do not want my images linked in Facebook groups.
It is an offence, under law, if you remove my copyright marking, and/or post this image anywhere else without my express written permission.
If you do, and I find out, you will be reported for copyright infringement action to the host platform and/or group applicable and you will be barred by me from social media platforms I use.
The same applies to all of my images.
My ownership & copyright is also embedded in the image metadata.
Originally dating to around 1320, the building is important because it has most of its original features; successive owners effected relatively few changes to the main structure, after the completion of the quadrangle with a new chapel in the 16th century. Pevsner described it as "the most complete small medieval manor house in the county", and it remains an example that shows how such houses would have looked in the Middle Ages. Unlike most courtyard houses of its type, which have had a range demolished, so that the house looks outward, Nicholas Cooper observes that Ightham Mote wholly surrounds its courtyard and looks inward, into it, offering little information externally.[9] The construction is of "Kentish ragstone and dull red brick,"[10] the buildings of the courtyard having originally been built of timber and subsequently rebuilt in stone.[11]
The moat of Ightham Mote
The house has more than 70 rooms, all arranged around a central courtyard, "the confines circumscribed by the moat."[10] The house is surrounded on all sides by a square moat, crossed by three bridges. The earliest surviving evidence is for a house of the early 14th century, with the great hall, to which were attached, at the high, or dais end, the chapel, crypt and two solars. The courtyard was completely enclosed by increments on its restricted moated site, and the battlemented tower was constructed in the 15th century. Very little of the 14th century survives on the exterior behind rebuilding and refacing of the 15th and 16th centuries.
The structures include unusual and distinctive elements, such as the porter's squint, a narrow slit in the wall designed to enable a gatekeeper to examine a visitor's credentials before opening the gate. An open loggia with a fifteenth-century gallery above, connects the main accommodations with the gatehouse range. The courtyard contains a large, 19th century dog kennel.[12] The house contains two chapels; the New Chapel, of c.1520, having a barrel roof decorated with Tudor roses. [13] Parts of the interior were remodelled by Richard Norman Shaw.[14] wikipedia
16th century-late 19th century
The house remained in the Selby family for nearly 300 years.[3] Sir William was succeeded by his nephew, also Sir William, who is notable for handing over the keys of Berwick-upon-Tweed to James I on his way south to succeed to the throne.[4] He married Dorothy Bonham of West Malling but had no children. The Selbys continued until the mid-19th century when the line faltered with Elizabeth Selby, the widow of a Thomas who disinherited his only son.[5] During her reclusive tenure, Joseph Nash drew the house for his multi-volume illustrated history Mansions of England in the Olden Time, published in the 1840s.[6] The house passed to a cousin, Prideaux John Selby, a distinguished naturalist, sportsman and scientist. On his death in 1867, he left Ightham Mote to a daughter, Mrs Lewis Marianne Bigge. Her second husband, Robert Luard, changed his name to Luard-Selby. Ightham Mote was rented-out in 1887 to American Railroad magnate William Jackson Palmer and his family. For three years Ightham Mote became a centre for the artists and writers of the Aesthetic Movement with visitors including John Singer Sargent, Henry James, and Ellen Terry. When Mrs Bigge died in 1889, the executors of her son Charles Selby-Bigge, a Shropshire land agent, put the house up for sale in July 1889.[6]
Late 19th century-21st century
The Mote was purchased by Thomas Colyer-Fergusson.[6] He and his wife brought up their six children at the Mote. In 1890-1891, he carried out much repair and restoration, which allowed the survival of the house after centuries of neglect.[7] Ightham Mote was opened to the public one afternoon a week in the early 20th century.[7]
Sir Thomas Colyer-Fergusson's third son, Riversdale, died aged 21 in 1917 in the Third Battle of Ypres, and won a posthumous Victoria Cross. A wooden cross in the New Chapel is in his memory. The oldest brother, Max, was killed at the age of 49 in a bombing raid on an army driving school near Tidworth in 1940 during World War II. One of the three daughters, Mary (called Polly) married Walter Monckton.
On Sir Thomas's death in 1951, the property and the baronetcy passed to Max's son, James. The high costs of upkeep and repair of the house led him to sell the house and auction most of the contents. The sale took place in October 1951 and lasted three days. It was suggested that the house be demolished to harvest the lead on the roofs, or that it be divided into flats. Three local men purchased the house: William Durling, John Goodwin and John Baldock. They paid £5,500 for the freehold, in the hope of being able to secure the future of the house.[8]
In 1953, Ightham Mote was purchased by Charles Henry Robinson, an American of Portland, Maine, United States. He had known the property when stationed nearby during the Second World War. He lived there for only fourteen weeks a year for tax reasons. He made many urgent repairs, and partly refurnished the house with 17th-century English pieces. In 1965, he announced that he would give Ightham Mote and its contents to the National Trust. He died in 1985 and his ashes were immured just outside the crypt. The National Trust took possession in that year.[8]
In 1989, the National Trust began an ambitious conservation project that involved dismantling much of the building and recording its construction methods before rebuilding it. During this process, the effects of centuries of ageing, weathering, and the destructive effect of the deathwatch beetle were highlighted. The project ended in 2004 after revealing numerous examples of structural and ornamental features which had been covered up by later additions.[1]
Completion of "sticky things" page in WRECK THIS JOURNAL.
I chewed skittles and starbust and then pressed the chewed balls onto the page.
Mod Podge on top.
The Austrian Parliament Building (German: Parlamentsgebäude, colloquially das Parlament) in Vienna is where the two houses of the Austrian Parliament conduct their sessions. The building is located on the Ringstraße boulevard in the first district Innere Stadt, near Hofburg Palace and the Palace of Justice. It was built to house the two chambers of the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), the bicameral legislature of the Cisleithanian (Austrian) part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Up to today, the Parliament Building is the seat of the two houses—the National Council (Nationalrat) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat)—of the Austrian legislature.
The foundation stone was laid in 1874; the building was completed in 1883. The architect responsible for its Greek Revival style was Theophil Hansen. He designed the building holistically, each element harmonizing with the others and was therefore also responsible for the interior decoration, such as statues, paintings, furniture, chandeliers, and numerous other elements. Hansen was honored by Emperor Franz Joseph with the title of Freiherr (Baron) after its completion. Following heavy damage and destruction in World War II, most of the interior has been restored to its original splendour.
The parliament building covers over 13,500 square meters, making it one of the largest structures on Ringstraße. It contains over one hundred rooms, the most important of which are the Chambers of the National Council, the Federal Council, and the former Imperial House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus). The building also includes committee rooms, libraries, lobbies, dining rooms, bars and gymnasiums. One of the building's most famous features is the Pallas Athena fountain in front of the main entrance, built by Hansen from 1898 to 1902 and a notable Viennese tourist attraction.
The Parliament Building is the site of important state ceremonies, most notably the swearing-in ceremony of the President of Austria and the state speech on National Day each October 26. The building is closely associated with the two parliamentary bodies, as is shown by the use of the term Hohes Haus as a metonym for "Parliament". Parliamentary offices spill over into nearby buildings, such as the Palais Epstein.
The constitution known as the February Patent promulgated in 1861 created an Imperial Council as an Austrian legislature, and a new building had to be constructed to house this constitutional organ. The original plan was to construct two separate buildings, one for the House of Lords (Herrenhaus) and one for the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus). However, after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise (Ausgleich) which effectively created the Dual-Monarchy in 1867, the Kingdom of Hungary received its own separate legislative body, the re-established Diet, and the original plan for two buildings was dropped.
The precursor to the present building was the temporary House of Representatives, located on Währinger Straße, a street off the newly laid out Ringstraße boulevard. It was erected within six weeks in March and April 1861 according to plans designed by Ferdinand Fellner, a famous Austrian theatre architect. In its layout with a ramp and a lobby area, the Abgeordnetenhaus was a model for the later Parliament Building. Completed on 25 April 1861 this temporary structure was opened by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and soon afterwards mocked Schmerlingtheater, after Minister Anton von Schmerling. It was used by the deputies of Cisleithania until the completion of the present-day parliament building in 1883, while the House of Lords resided at Palais Niederösterreich, then the seat of the Lower Austrian Landtag assembly.
Ringstraße and Parliament Building around 1900
The site for the new building was on the city’s ancient fortifications and walls. In his famous decree Es ist Mein Wille of 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph I had laid down plans for the Ringstraße to replace the old city walls. The parliament building was supposed to feature prominently on the boulevard, in close proximity to Hofburg Palace and the Vienna City Hall.
An Imperial Commission was appointed to consider a design for a Parliament building. Influenced by the industrialist and politician Nikolaus Dumba, the Commission decided that its style should be classical, the argument being that classical Greek architecture was appropriate for a Parliament because of the connection to the Ancient Greeks and the ideal of democracy. After studying rival proposals, the Imperial Commission chose the plan by Theophil Hansen, who could rely on his drafts for Zappeion Hall in Athens. In 1869 the k.k. Ministry of the Interior gave von Hansen the order to design the new Austrian parliament building.
Ground was broken on June 1874; the cornerstone has the date “2 September 1874“ etched into it. At the same time, work also commenced on the nearby Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum on Maria-Theresien-Platz, the City Hall, and the University. In November 1883 the offices of the House of Representatives were completed and put to use. On 4 December 1883 the House of Representatives held its first session under its president, Franz Smolka. On 16 December 1884 the House of Lords under its president, Count Trauttmansdorff, held its first session. Both chambers would continue to meet in the building until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.
The official name of the building was Reichsratsgebäude (Imperial Council Building), and the street behind the building, the Reichsratsstraße, still recalls this former name. The word "Parliament" however was in use since the beginning as well.
The building saw tumultuous years during the late years of the declining multi-ethnic Austrian monarchy stretching from Dalmatia to Bukovina, as the House of Representatives was extremely fractious with tensions among liberals and conservatives, German nationalists and Young Czech deputies, as well as between the government and parliament. It became notorious for filibusters, parliamentary brawls and undisciplined deputies throwing inkwells at each other as a common feature. The joke on the Viennese streets was that Athena was so disgusted by the political infighting that she deliberately turned her back to the building. Nevertheless, the building housed the first form of a parliamentary system for many of the people of Central Europe. Some of the former deputies continued their political careers after the dissolution of the Empire and became important politicians in their home countries.
Proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria, 12 November 1918
The Reichsratsgebäude continued to function until 1918, when the building was occupied by demonstrators during the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From 21 October 1918 the remaining German-speaking deputies convened in a "Provisional National Assembly", first at the Palais Niederösterreich, from 12 November onwards in the Parliament Building. On this day the presidents of the assembly officially proclaimed the Republic of German-Austria from the ramp in front of the building. Upon the Austrian Constitutional Assembly election in 1919 and the establishment of the First Austrian Republic, the building itself was renamed the Parlament, with the new republican National Council (Nationalrat) and Federal Council (Bundesrat) replacing the old Imperial House of Deputies (Abgeordnetenhaus) and the House of Lords (Herrenhaus).
The parliament was incapacitated, when on 4 March 1933 Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß took the occasion of a parliamentary law quarrel to cease its function, the first step to the introduction of his Austrofascist dictatorship. By the imposed "May Constitution" of 1934 the Parliament Building became the seat of the Bundestag, the formal legislature of the Federal State of Austria. It finally lost its function with the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938. The Nazis used it as an administrative seat of the Vienna Reichsgau. During the Second World War, half of the building suffered heavy damage by Allied bombing and the Vienna Offensive. Parts of the interior, such as the former House of Lords Chamber and the Hall of Columns, were completely destroyed.
Soviet troops dancing with locals in front of the burnt-out Parliament Building after the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945
It was in the old Abgeordnetenhaus Chamber that the new Chancellor Karl Renner on 27 April 1945 declared the rebirth of an independent Austria, backed by Soviet troops. Max Fellerer and Eugen Wörle were commissioned as architects; they chose to redesign and readapt the former Lords Chamber for the National Council, and in the process the meeting room of the National Council was rebuilt in a Modern and functional style. Work on the National Council Chamber was completed in 1956. The original appearance of the other publicly accessible premises, such as the Hall of Columns, and the building's external appearance were largely restored to von Hansen's design.
Exterior
Baron von Hansen's design for the Reichsratsgebäude uses the neo-Greek style, which was popular during the 19th century Classic revival. Hansen worked at that time in Athens and was recruited by the Greek-Austrian magnate Nikolaus Dumba, who was on the committee for constructing a new parliament building.
Hansen was inspired by the design of the Zappeion hall in Athens. The original plans saw separate buildings for the House of Representatives and the House of Lords, but for practical and financial reasons it was later decided to house both chambers in one building. Von Hansen's concept of the layout reflected the structure of the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), as was stipulated by the so-called February Patent of 1861, which laid down the constitutional structure for the empire. The two chambers were connected by the great hypostyle hall, which was the central structure. The hall was supposed to be the meeting point between the commoners and the lords, reflecting the structure of society at the time.
The gable has not changed since the monarchy and is decorated with symbols and allegories of the 17 provinces (Kronländer) of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. The ramp is about four meters high. The pillars are in the Corinthian style. On both ends of the roof are quadrigas. The building used to be surrounded by small patches of lawns, which have since been transformed into parking spaces. The building is up to four stories high.
Roof
Corresponding to the horse tamers at the Ringstraße ramp, eight quadrigas made of bronze decorate both ends of the roof. The quadriga is a symbol of victory, driven by the goddess of victory Nike. The attic design of both chambers is rich in symbolism, with 76 marble statues and 66 reliefs forming a decorative ensemble. There are 44 allegorical statues which represent human qualities and branches of human activity, while 32 statues represent famous personalities from Classical Antiquity. The reliefs are allegorical as well and correspond to the areas of public life on which the famous personalities impacted. The crown lands, important cities, and rivers of the empire are portrayed in 50 smaller reliefs. The roof is for the most part kept in the ancient Greek form, decorated with ancient Greek-style caps and palmettes made of copper sheet metal.
Material
It was the emperor’s personal wish to use Austrian marble for the construction of the buildings on the Ringstraße. For that purpose, marble from the village of Laas in the county of Tyrol was brought in and generously used on the Hofburg Imperial Palace and the Reichsratsgebäude. For the architect Baron von Hansen, the white, sturdy stone was perfect, since the building blocks for the façade and statues could be made to look like those in ancient Greece. Over the decades and with increased air pollution, the marble has proved remarkably resilient, stronger than its famous counterpart from Carrara.
Bronzework
Four bronze statues of the horse tamers are located at the two lower ends of the ramp (Auffahrtsrampe). They are a powerful symbol of the suppression of passion, an important precondition for successful parliamentary cooperation. They were designed and executed by J. Lax in the Kaiserlich Königliche Kunst-Erzgießerei in 1897 and 1900. Further bronze works are the two quadrigas on top of the roof, each chariot pulled by four horses and steered by the goddess Nike. The bronze works had to undergo extensive conservation and restoration work in the 1990s, due to damage from acid rain and air pollution. Further oxidation corroded the bronze over the decades and ate holes into the sculptures. For that purpose each sculpture was completely encased in a separate structure for protection them from the elements while they underwent restoration.
Pallas Athene Fountain
Pallas-Athena-Brunnen in front of parliament
The Athena Fountain (Pallas-Athene-Brunnen) in front of the Parliament was erected between 1893 and 1902 by Carl Kundmann, Josef Tautenhayn and Hugo Haerdtl, based on plans by Baron von Hansen. In the middle is a water basin and a richly decorated base. The four figures lying at the foot of Athena are allegorical representations of the four most important rivers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They represent at the front the Danube and Inn, in the back the Elbe and Vltava (German: Moldau) rivers. On the sides little cupids ride dolphins. The statues of the Danube, Inn, and the cupids were executed by Haerdtl, those of the Elbe and Moldau by Kundmann. The female statues above represent the legislative and executive powers of the state and were executed by Tautenhayn. They are again dominated by the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, standing on a pillar. Athena is dressed in armour with a gilded helmet, her left hand carries a spear, her right carries Nike.
Grounds
Parliament is surrounded by greenery. On the north side the Rathausplatz a park is located, on the southern side a small lawn next to the Justizpalast. Monuments to the founders of the First Republic as well as to Dr. Karl Renner are located on either end.
Interior
The entrance
Layout of the Austrian Parliament Building. Click on the image for a key to the annotations.
The middle axis from east to west is divided into an entrance hall, vestibule, atrium, peristyle and two large rooms at the far end. For the interior decoration Baron von Hansen used Greek architectural elements such as Doric, Ionic and Corinthian pillars, and in the two rooms Pompei-style stucco technique for the walls.
The main entrance at the portico is an exact copy of the gate of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis of Athens, fitted with a bronze portal. From the main entrance at the Ringstraße one passes into the vestibule of the building, which contains Ionic pillars. The walls are decorated with Pavonazzo marble. The niches contain statues of Greek gods. Seen from the entrance starting from the left these are Apollo, Athena, Zeus, Hera, and Hephaestus, and from the right Hermes, Demeter, Poseidon, Artemis and Ares.
Above the niches with the gods is a frieze more than 100 m long by the Viennese artist Alois Hans Schram, running along the corridor and continuing into the atrium. It is an allegorical depiction of the blessing of Peace, the civic Virtues and Patriotism.
Above the entrance that leads to the grand Hall of Pillars (Säulenhalle) is a frieze with an allegorical depiction of Austria on her throne. Representing the motto "Goods and Blood for thy country" (Gut und Blut furs Vaterland), warriors are swearing their loyalty and women are bringing offerings
Located behind the entrance atrium is the grand Hall of Pillars (Säulenhalle) or peristyle. The hall is about 40 m long and 23 m wide. The 24 Corinthian pillars are made of Adnet marble, and all of them are monoliths weighing around 16 tons each. The pillars carry the skylighted main ceiling in the middle and the coffered side ceilings. The floor is made of polished marble resting on a concrete hull. The space below was designed as a hypocaust for a floor heating and air circulation system for the hall.
Located on the transverse axis at the end of the Hall of Pillars are the chamber of the former House of Representatives (on the left ) and the chamber of the former House of Lords (on the right). Von Hansen's idea was to have the Hall of Pillars as the main central part of the building. It was designed to act as a meeting point between the House of Lords and the House of Representatives. Hansen also wanted to have the hall used by the monarch for the State Opening of Parliament and the Speech from the Throne, similar to the British tradition. However, such ceremonies were never held in the building, since Emperor Franz Joseph I had a personal disdain for the parliamentary body. Speeches from the Throne in front of the parliamentarians were held in the Hofburg Palace instead.
The architect von Hansen paid particular attention to the design and construction of this hall. The marble floor was polished in a complicated process. The capitals of the pillars were gilded with 23 carat (96%) gold. Running around the wall was a frieze which was 126 m long and 2.3 m high. It was designed and painted by Eduard Lebiedzki. The monumental piece of work took decades to prepare and design, and four years, from 1907 until 1911, to paint. The frieze showed allegories depicting the duties of parliament on a golden background.
The hall was heavily damaged by aerial bombardments by British and American during World War II. On February 7, 1945 the hall suffered direct hits by aerial bombs. At least two pillars and the skylight were completely destroyed. The gilded coffered side ceilings under which the frieze ran on the walls were almost completely destroyed. The few surviving parts of the frieze were removed and stored. Only in the 1990s were the surviving parts restored as much as possible.
Because of its representative character, the Hall of Pillars is presently used by the President of the National Council and the Federal Council for festive functions, as well as for traditional parliamentary receptions.
Located at the back of the Hall of Pillars is the reception salon (Empfangssalon) of the President of the National Council. The room is fitted with Pompeian wall decorations in stucco and a large glass skylight. Hanging on the wall are portraits of the Presidents of the National Council since 1945.
Further behind the reception salon is the former reception hall for both chambers of the Imperial Council. It is used today for committee meetings and hearings on financial, state budget, and audit court matters by the National Council, thus its present name, Budgetsaal. The hall is richly decorated with marble, stucco, and a rich coffered ceiling in the Renaissance style. Inlaid into the ceiling are the coat of arms of the 17 Kronländer kingdoms and territories represented in the Imperial Council.
Former House of Representatives Chamber
Debating Chamber of the former House of Deputies of Austria
The chamber of the former House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus) is used today by the Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) whenever it convenes for special occasions such as National Day and the inauguration ceremony of a newly elected Federal President of Austria. The chamber is built in a semicircle of 34 m diameter and 22.5 m depth.
It originally contained 364 seats. With the introduction of various electoral reforms, the number was increased to 425 seats in 1896 and with the introduction of male universal suffrage in 1907 to 516 seats.
The chamber has viewing galleries on two levels. The first gallery has in the middle a box for the head of state. The right side of the gallery is for the diplomatic corps and the left side for the cabinet and family members of the head of state. On both far ends are seats for journalists. The gallery on the second level, which is slightly recessed from the one on the first level, is for the general public.
The chamber is architecturally based on an ancient Greek theatron. The wall behind the presidium is designed like an antique skene with marble colonnades that carry a gable.
Marble Colonnade
The group of figures in the gable are made of Laas marble and depict the allegorical times of the day. The columns and pilasters of the wall are made of marble from Untersberg, the stylobates of dark marble, the decorations of the doors of red Salzburg marble. The wall space between the pillars is made of grey scagliola, with niches in between decorated with statues made of Carrara marble. The statues show historical persons such as Numa Pompilius, Cincinnatus, Quintus Fabius Maximus, Cato the Elder, Gaius Gracchus, Cicero, Manlius Torquatus, Augustus, Seneca the Younger and Constantine the Great. The friezes above were painted by August Eisenmenger and depict the history of the emergence of civic life. Starting from left to right it shows:
Kampf der Kentauren und Lapithen (Battle of the Centaurs and Lapithes)
Minos richtet nach eigenem Ermessen (Minos judges according to his own discretion)
Einsetzung der Volksvertretung in Sparta (Swearing-in of the representatives of Sparta)
Brutus verurteilt seine Söhne (Brutus condemns his sons)
Menenius Agrippa versöhnt die Stände (Menenius Agrippa reconciles the estates)
Sophokles im Wettkampf mit Aischylos (Sophokles in competition with Aischylos)
Sokrates auf dem Markte von Athen (Sokrates visiting the market of Athens)
Anordnung der Prachtbauten durch Perikles (The order of the representative buildings through Pericles. Note: the head of Pericles actually has the features of Baron Theophil von Hansen)
Herodot in Olympia
Plato lehrt die Gesetze (Plato teaches law)
Demosthenes redet zum Volke (Demosthenes addresses the people)
Decius Mus weiht sich dem Tode (Decius Mus dedicates himself to death)
Caius Gracchus auf der Rednertribüne (Caius Gracchus holds a speech from the speaker's platform)
Solon läßt die Athener auf die Gesetze schwören (Solon has the Athenians swear on the laws)
der Friede (Peace)
The chamber of the House of Representatives was important for the history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many politicians started their career as deputies, such as Karl Renner, later chancellor and president of Austria, and Leopold Kunschak, later conservative leader. Other deputies from outside core Austria played important roles in their native countries after the First and Second World Wars. When Karl Renner became Federal President, he once gave a speech honouring the historic importance and function of the old chamber:
Important politicians who started their career and had their first democratic experience later played important roles in their native countries after the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These include:
In Austria
Karl Renner, former deputy of Moravia, later Federal Chancellor and President of Austria
Leopold Kunschak, former deputy of Lower Austria, later Austrian conservative leader
In Czechoslovakia
Tomáš Masaryk, former delegate from Bohemia, later first President of Czechoslovakia
Karel Kramář, former delegate from Bohemia, later first Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia
Vlastimil Tusar, former delegate from Bohemia, later Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia und
Bohumír Šmeral, former delegate from Bohemia, later Czechoslovak Communist leader,
in Poland
Ignacy Daszyński, former delegate from Galicia, later Sejm Marshal of the Second Polish Republic,
Wincenty Witos, former delegate from Galicia, later Prime Minister of Poland,
in Italy
Alcide De Gasperi, former delegate from the Tyrol, later Prime Minister of Italy,
in Yugoslavia
Anton Korošec, former delegate from Styria, later Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
in Ukraine
Yevhen Petrushevych, former delegate from Galicia, later President of Western Ukrainian People's Republic
Kost Levytskyi, former delegate from Galicia, later Head of the Government of Western Ukrainian People's Republic
The Austrian Imperial Council (Reichsrat) was the recruiting school for central and southeastern democracy and socialism.
National Council Chamber
Since 1920 the former meeting room of the House of Lords has been used as a plenary meeting room by the National Council. The House of Lords (Herrenhaus) used to have its chamber where today the National Council convenes. The chamber was designed in the classical style, with a horseshoe-shaped seating arrangement facing the chair. The Chamber of the National Council was destroyed in 1945 during aerial bombardments and was completely rebuilt in a modern style. The new chamber was finished in 1956 and is a typical example of 1950s architecture. Apart from the coat of arms made of steel, the chamber is lacklustre without decoration. The carpet is mint-green, considered to be neutral at the time since it was not the colour of any political party. Green was also said to have a soothing effect, something that apparently weighed in the decision, considering the tumultuous debates the building had to endure before the two World Wars. Behind the speaker's pult is the government bench (Regierungsbank), which is however only fully occupied during important events such as the declaration of the government (Regierungserklärung) or the state budget speech (Budgetrede).
Located next to the Chamber of the former House of Lords is the current Chamber of the Federal Council of Austria (Bundesrat). The room was used by the Lords as an antechamber and informal meeting room. After the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the new republican constitution in 1920, the former Lords room became the Chamber for the Federal Council.
The seating arrangement of the present Chamber of the Federal Council is similar to the other two great chamber halls. Member of the Federal Council sit in a semicircle facing the presidium. In front of the presidium is the cabinet bench. The furniture was completely renewed in 1999. In 1970, the coat of arms of Austria as well as of the nine Austrian states was installed above the presidium.
Culture and tourism[
The exterior of the Austrian Parliament—especially the statue and fountain of Athena—is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Vienna. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) classifies the inner city of Vienna, including the Ringstraße and thus the Parliament Building as a World Heritage Site. It is also a Grade I listed building. There is no casual access to the interior, but it may be seen in a number of ways:
Since October 2005 a visitors centre has been built and opened. Visitors can now enter the building not from the old side entrance, but from the front at ground level.