The opening of the new Cathedral Gardens in Leicester last Saturday included talks by both the artist whose work found a home in the new gardens. Our friend Rosalind Broomhall told us already about James Butler and the Richard III statue. Here she concludes her reports about the opening of the gardens by sharing with us the ideas behind Dallas Pierce Quintero’s new artwork.
‘Towards Stillness’ Commissioned by Leicestershire County Council. Designed by Juliet Quintero of Dallas Pierce Quintero.
The artwork ‘Towards Stillness’ portrays the story of Richard’s final days in Leicestershire in a series of 12 steel plates, aligned towards Bosworth and surrounded by tall grasses and marshy plants to evoke the terrain of the battlefield. Juliet Quintero consulted with both Dr Phil Stone (Richard III Society) and Dr John Ashdown-Hill to ensure historical accuracy.
The artwork should be read from west to east with the first stainless steel plates representing the battle – the charge, rearing horse, fight on foot and defeat. Juliette took hundreds of photographs of a re-enactor from Les Routier de Rouen to create lifelike images and the sihouettes were water cut* onto the steel. Helped by undergraduates Holly and Freya from Loughborough University, the images were then blurred with lines to create the sensation of movement. The blurring ceases as Richard is slain and carried back to Leicester on horseback and the quality of the steel diminishes to denote the passage of time. The steel was shot blasted in a random way to create a weathering effect and as the centuries pass the height of the sheets falls. Richard is lost. Until that day in 2012 when the archaeologists uncovered the grave.
The clue to this piece is in the title. After more than 500 years, the heat of battle, the hurried interment at Greyfriars and the lost grave, Richard will finally be laid to rest – and be still.
*Watercutting: water mixed with crushed garnets forced at pressure through a sapphire nozzle. Laser cutting would have created too much heat.
More from the opening of the new Cathedral Gardens in Leicester by our friend Rosalind Broomhall. The photo of the statue with its new sword is by Jo Mungovin. Thank you to both of you!
Richard III statue. Commissioned by the Richard III Society and sculpted by James Butler RA.
This much loved bronze statue has been moved from its previous home in Castle Gardens to the newly refurbished Cathedral Gardens and James Butler was on hand to talk about it.
Mr Butler’s vision was to sculpt Richard ‘the man’ and to that end, after consultation with the Richard III Society, Richard’s arms were left free of armour and Richard depicted as strong, energetic and courageous. He holds his crown as though picked from the battlefield after losing his helmet and displayed to portray his ambition – to fight for his kingdom. He stands on a plinth above us to drive home that point. (The aggregate used for the plinth is, by the way, from a quarry near Bosworth.) The sword has been newly restored after the statue lived for many years with a dagger – the result of the previous sword being stolen (and recast) 6 times. It portrays a hand-and-a-half sword and has been strengthened and thickened from the original.
Tongue-in-cheek, Mr Butler suggested a very sharp edge and an articulated elbow to deter vandals. (Vandalism is, apparently, an all too common problem with public art.) As Richard would have been riding a horse, his inner leg would have been armour free and the rest of his armour, custom made in Germany or Italy, would have had sliding rivets allowing for freedom of movement.
The statue was unveiled in Castle Gardens in 1980 by Princess Alice of Gloucester and as one observer commented, “It rocks!”
Posted by: Rachel Allerton Tags: Fair
On Sunday 6th July I attended the Winterfest Medieval Fair in Parramatta. There were amazing historical costumes, arms and armour, traditional jewellery, cloaks (and daggers!), as well as sword fighting to see and experience.
I tried traditional spiced mead while watching the Templars combat the Vikings and learnt how to strike a flint to make fire. The birds of prey lecture was fascinating and I now understand a lot more about hawking and falconry! A jousting tournament took place with the riders also pitching themselves against the quintain and hoops. I also discovered how heavy armour is and decided I’d probably make a poor medieval knight!
The next medieval fair will be at St Ives on the 20th and 21st of September.
On Saturday, 5 July 2014, the new Cathdral Gardens in Leicester ‘Garden of Life’ were opened. We are very happy to be able to bring you a report by Rosalind Broomhall, a friend from Leicester, who was able to attend this event. Thank you also to Jo Mungovin for the photo.
“How do you open a garden?” said Canon Pete “…you ring the bells!” And ring out they did yesterday as, after an anxious night of heavy rain, the sun shone down and Bishop Tim and Sir Peter Soulsby cut the ribbon and celebrations began. Young people from Curve Theatre danced between the newly refurbished statue (sword restored!) and the artwork ‘Towards Stillness’ that tells the story of Richard’s final days and the centuries lost until he was rediscovered that day in 2012. The air of celebration continued with songs from the Emmanuel Gospel Choir and a concert performance of ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat’ by the children of DioSing! Inside St Martin’s House, James Butler RA and Juliette Quintero spoke about their work and Dean Monteith posed the question of the relevance of the story of Richard III today. Outside people tried their hand at a drumming workshop and the All Saints dancing troup, young Asian Christians, expressed their faith through dance.
The race to complete the gardens – how many workmen can you get in one space? – had continued flat out all week but paid off magnificently as our new Cathedral Gardens were opened in style.
You can find the programme with further links here.
In Leicester, the restored statue of Richard III will today be installed in its new home in Cathedral Gardens. The statue had been donated by the Richard III Cathedral 34 years ago and until recently stood in Castle Gardens. It was not only cleaned and waxed, but Richard also got a new sword instead of the dagger he used to hold in his right hand. You can find more information here.
Andrew McKinnon at the 2013 Australasian Convention (Photograph by D Preis)
The other bit of news is closer to home. Our friend Andrew McKinnon, who delighted – in full armour – those attending the 2013 Australasian Convention (and quite a few other people who just happened to be at the hotel, where the Convention took place!), today is the topic of a whole article with wonderful illustrations in the Manly Daily, the local paper for Sydney’s northern suburbs. Andrew will joust at the first ever St Ives Medieval Fair, which will also include a variety of medieval attraction. Mark 20-21 September in your diary to attend this must-see event.
Posted by: Leslie McCawley
The June meeting of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society was held on Saturday, 14 June 2014, at the Sydney Mechanics’ Institute. Chair Judith welcomed all attendees including three new people who are considering becoming members. With the Treasurer and Sales Officer away this month, the Committee reports were brief. Dorothea presented the Webmaster’s report and reminded members that more items were always needed for our increasingly popular website. With our Social Secretary away due to illness we are unable to make specific plans for our annual Bosworth service and luncheon until further notice.
One of our members, Maggie, will be visiting Britain during the Bosworth Commemoration ceremonies, and has been asked to represent the overseas’ branches by placing the wreath provided from our region during the proceedings. We look forward to hearing about her experience when she returns.
Leslie introduced our guest speaker Dr Mark St Leon, the foremost authority on the history of the circus in Australia and descendant of a long established circus family. He presented his wonderful talk, ‘The Evolution of the Medieval Fair’, then autographed his beautifully illustrated 2011 book Circus: The Australian Story, for members. His talk will be published on this website shortly.
The next meeting will be on Saturday, 9 August 2014, featuring numismatic expert David Mee speaking on ‘Coinage in Richard’s Reign’
Note: Dr Mark St Leon will be talking tomorrow (19 June) to host Margaret Throsby on the Midday Interview on ABC Classic FM!
Our guest speaker for the June meeting will be circus historian Dr Mark St Leon, speaking on the topic of the “Evolution of the Medieval Fair”.
Mark is a direct descendant of one of Australia’s most prominent circus families in the mid-19th century through the 1950s. St Leon’s Circus was one of Australia’s major circuses spanning the decades from the 1870s through the 1920s. Mark has devoted many years to the documentation of his family’s history in the circus and Australia’s circus history generally. He has been widely published in this area. He has also documented the history of other famous circus families who travelled Australia and the tours of the large American circuses which came here in the 1800s. Mark is the author of several published books, articles and encyclopaedia entries. He currently lectures and/or tutors at universities in New South Wales and Queensland. Signed copies of his books will be available at the meeting.
The decision of the British High Court in the Judicial Review whether the granting of the exhumation licence for the remains which were later established to be those of Richard III was announced today at 10 am (7 pm in Australia).
The court found that “there are no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question. In the result, therefore, the Claimant’s application for Judicial Review is dismissed.” This means Richard will be re-interred in Leicester Cathedral, just a stone’s throw away from where his been for the last 500 years.
At the press conference in Leicester Cathedral it was announced that the reburial is expected for (the northern hemisphere) spring 2015.
You can read the full judgement here and an article from the BBC here.
The decision of the High Court on the Judicial Review whether the licence to exhume a skeleton in Leicester, which subsequently was found to be that of Richard III, was valid will be announced tomorrow (Friday, 23 May 2014) at 10 am. 10 am in the UK is 7 pm in Australia.
More information here and here.
The NSW Branch of the Richard III Society met on 12 April 2014 at the Sydney Mechanics Institute Building in the Sydney CBD. Branch Chairperson Judith welcomed all the regulars and several new members from Wagga Wagga who had made a special effort to attend the day’s meeting during their visit to Sydney.
The regular business of the branch was suspended due to time constraints, so there were no reports presented from the officers, nor review of previous minutes. However, this business had been taken care of during the Committee Meeting that preceded the General Meeting, and the Sales Officer, Treasurer, and Webmaster reports will be in the Minutes taken by the Branch Secretary.
The NSW Branch also wishes to extend their best wishes to a seriously ill member and wish her a speedy recovery
Our Guest Speaker, the Dean and CEO of the Sydney College of Divinity, Professor Diane Speed, was welcomed and introduced. Her presentation was a comprehensive and extremely interesting overview of the existing early medieval illuminated Bibles, Gospels and Psalters in the English Cathedral libraries and museums, illustrated with wonderfully detailed images painstakingly created by the monks throughout the centuries.
The next meeting will be on Saturday, 14 June 2014, when the speaker will be circus historian and author, Dr Mark St Leon, on Fairs and Circuses.
