UK Parliament is a working democratic institution. But did you know we also hold many wonderful collections of art and historical artefacts?
Today Assistant Curator Sileas is sharing some of the highlights of our collections as part of #MuseumFromHome 🏠 ⬇️
#MuseumFromHome lets us look at hidden artworks which we don't often get to share.
While many artworks can be seen by visitors to Parliament, not all can be on display.
Behind every artwork is a great work on paper! 📜
This cartoon used to show the full design for Charles West Cope's proposed fresco ‘Edward III conferring the Order of the Garter on the Black Prince’ (shown in this old photograph) but sadly only small fragments survive today.
Cope displayed this drawing at the 1845 Westminster Hall Cartoon exhibition, which saw drawings fill the Hall as part of a competition to find artists and art to decorate the new Parliament.
You can see this cartoon on the left of this print from the London Illustrated News! 📰
Cope was commissioned to paint the proposed subject in fresco.
The final version of his design can be seen in the House of Lords Chamber in our online Virtual Tour, to the left of the Throne: parliament.uk/visiting/virtu…
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We're #hiring a Head of #Conservation#Architecture who can
📐 oversee the strategy for building conservation
🏗️ keep the programme of conservation works up to date
😃 be a great team leader
Today is #AskACurator Day, and we have 3 specialist curators answering your questions on our Parliamentary Art, Historic Furniture and Architectural Fabric Collections! 🖼️🚪🪑
Let's hear your questions and their answers ⏬
First over to our Parliamentary Art expert Melanie 🎨🖼️✏️
💬 "How many works are hidden away in storage? Do they get put on display in rotation?" ❓
80% of our 9,000 artworks are on display - a high percentage compared to many museums. We do rotate the works on display - some are fragile and can only be displayed for short periods.