ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM @OXFORD
We had friends living in Marcham, between Abingdon and Oxford, so we visited Oxford numerous times over
the past decades. Alas, my friend Stuart passed on in 2024. The Ashmolean never made my shortlist during a
visit, so I was determined to rectify this. But there's too much to take it all in so I will revisit, that's a promise.
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeologyon Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677. It is also the world's second university museum, after the establishment of the Kunstmuseum Basel in 1661 by the University of Basel. The present building was built between 1841 and 1845. The museum reopened in 2009 after a major redevelopment, and in November 2011, new galleries focusing on Egypt and Nubia were unveiled. In May 2016, the museum redisplayed galleries of 19th-century art. ¬ Wikipedia |
Scripts and Languages
A meeting of two empires
Chinese lacquer screen. Once we had one ourselves.
The information reads: "Updated October 2024. Bronze sculptures to be returned to India."
"On 11 March 2024 the Council of the University of Oxford supported a claim from the Indian High Commission for the return of a 16th-century bronze sculpture of Saint Tirumankai Alvar (on the right) from the Ashmolean Museum. The Charity Commission for England and Wales has authorised the return of the Indian Bronze to India. The Ashmolean has contacted the Indian High Commission in London." |
It always fascinates me to read & learn about other cultures even if I
can't remember 1/10th after a month...
Latin: nosce te ipsum was according to a travel report by the Greek writer Pausanias an inscription in the
pronaos of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. The aphorism is attributed to at least six ancient Greek philosophers:
Chilon of Sparta / Heraclitus / Pythagoras / Socrates / Solon of Athens / Thales of Milete...
The authenticity of all these attributions is questionable and who the actual author was remains uncertain. The maxims on the temple of Apollo were probably popular proverbs that were later attributed to particular sages.
Tenzin Tosam Rimpoche with his tutor, Gen Pagdo - by Martine Franck
