No surprise to learn that Mr G is particularly keen on small-scale works of art.Today his (and the HB's) spirits were lifted by the arrival of postcard depicting the gorgeous Wilton Diptych, to be seen in the National Gallery. (The two hinged panels are roughly the size of a medium-sized computer screen.)
It's one of those very special objects that makes one stop and simply gaze and gaze.
The unknown artist has created an image of ravishing beauty, the colours undimmed by the passage of 600 years.
The young King Richard II, flanked by his patron saints (John the Baptist, Edward the Confessor and, get the pointy red shoes, Edmund the Martyr) is granted a vision of a blue and gold heaven, where the child Jesus leans forward to bless the earthly boy king.
Anyone familiar with Shakespeare's depiction of Richard II might be forgiven for wondering if the Bard had caught sight of this piece, so closely does it chime with his exquisite, poetic, 'self-iconising' monarch.
In London soon? Drop in to the Sainbury Wing and allow your senses and spirits to be entranced by this glorious treasure - sole property of you and me!
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