The Armada Paintings in the New Palace of Westminster

In June 2008 a team of artists began the gargantuan task of creating the series of Armada mural paintings for the house of lords. They were embarking on a two-year project, which would bring to completion the original decorative scheme planned for the prince's chamber by the Royal Commission on Fine Arts ¹ during the 1840s. This, in turn, would reconnect the original historical association, which the Armada tapestries had held with the house of lords since the mid 17th century until their destruction by fire in 1834. This article places these Armada mural paintings within the historical context of this project at the Palace of Westminster and documents some of the methodology behind the programme of work to re-create this celebrated series for the walls of the house of lords.     

The Armada Tapestries in the Old Palace of Westminster

The tapestry series of the ‘Defeat of the Spanish Armada’ was a national artistic treasure which hung in the old Palace of Westminster from the mid 17th century until the fire of 1834. This article outlines the creation of the tapestries in the 1590s and covers the major treatments of them in illustrations of parliamentary interiors and in John Pine's 1739 engravings; it ends with a short account of the curious episode of the tapestry which escaped the conflagration. In the absence of any known historical record of how the tapestries were displayed, suggestions are offered about how many and in what order they hung in the two chambers occupied successively by the house of lords (before and after 1801), and about how they were physically supported on the walls of the Parliament Chamber.     

The Painted Chamber at Westminster and the Openings of Parliament, 1399–1484*

The aim of this article is to investigate the use of the Painted Chamber in the Palace of Westminster as a parliamentary space in the 15th century, focusing on 41 openings of parliament held there between 1399 and 1484. It will examine the history and images of the Painted Chamber and the procedures of the opening of parliament through a combination of historical, art historical, and archaeological sources, scholarship and methodologies. It will argue that the Painted Chamber and the openings of parliament therein were tools used by the crown to establish a dynamic between itself and the Commons in which the crown claimed its right to authority but also encouraged a political dialogue. Furthermore, it will argue that this need for dialogue was a response to the growing political influence of the Commons.     

On the Ancient Parliament and Castle of Acton Burnell

The remains of an iron dagger within an iron sheath were found in 1998 at Castlethorpe, Buckinghamshire: the only one recorded in Britain and Ireland. Their typological characteristics are those of early iron-age examples, made somewhere between 600 and 400 B.C. A unique design feature and the circumstances of its deposition are discussed.     

故宫博物院古建筑防雷保护工作的回顾

北京故宫在建成之时,就有雷害伴随,不断出现雷击起火,损毁建筑物的事故。本文回顾了故宫博物院上世纪50年代以来古建筑防雷工作的情况,特别是1984年国家颁布试行《建筑防雷设计规范》后,对故宫古建筑之材料进行相关的数据调查和实验,作为防雷设计的依据。同时对防雷问题较严重的几座殿宇的防雷装置的改进,大大提高了防雷保护能力。此外,作者还对故宫落雷的条件和一些雷击事故加以科学分析。     

故宫的价值与故宫博物院的内涵

故宫与故宫博物院密切相关,对故宫价值认识的程度,影响着对故宫博物院内涵的理解与功能的定位。故宫人对文物及其价值的认识有一个逐步深化的过程。博物馆不只是收藏“人类和人类环境的见证物”,更要在收集、保护、研究和传播上下功夫。故宫的古建筑不只是一个“壳”,更是中华传统文化的一个载体和标志,也体现了建筑艺术中各民族文化的交流和融合。在反映宫廷历史文化方面,故宫及其藏品可称为是明清皇家生活方式的标本,值得深入挖掘、整理和利用。从传统的古物概念扩展到保护文化遗产,是故宫人对故宫价值认识的一个飞跃,故宫不仅要保护有形的,而且要高度重视、努力抓紧保护无形的文化遗产。     

关于中国古代宫殿建筑群基址规模问题的探讨

本文从建筑群基址规模这一概念出发,对文献与考古资料中所体现的中国古代宫殿建筑群做了一个较为系统的探讨,既注意到建筑群基址规模随时代发展而逐渐缩小的趋势,也注意到建筑群基址规模可能是一个规制性的问题,即在大约相近的时代,同等级别的建筑群,如宫殿建筑群,其基址规模也是大体相当的。而同一时期建筑群中,等级较高的,其基址规模也比较大,因而,基址规模是中国古代建筑中一个具有标志性的不可替代的等级符号性建筑要素。从这一概念出发,本文对《周礼·考工记》中的王城规划思想做了分析,得出了更为接近古人记载的王城规划图式,并依据文献史料,发现金中都宫殿、元大都宫殿、明中都宫殿,甚至明南京圜丘坛,都采用了周回9里30步的基址规模尺度,此后的明南京、明清北京又沿袭了明中都宫殿的基址规模。而这一规制可以上溯到宋西京洛阳宫殿、宋汴梁金明池琼林苑,乃至隋唐洛阳宫城、北魏洛阳宫城的基址周回长度和基址面积规模。     

The Soul of the Potala Palace

ItisaholystatueoftheGoddessofMercy.Measuring93cmhighand10cmwide,thesmallstatueinthePotalaPalaceinLhasaenjoysfameasgreatasthestatueofSakyamuni,thefOunderofBuddhismintheJokhangMonasterywhichwasbroughttoTibetbyTangDynasty(618-907)PrincessWenchengwhenshewasma…