For all the years I’ve been coming to Warsaw, I’ve been drawn to the Faras Gallery at the National Museum, but visit after visit it has been under construction or closed. On Saturday afternoon I finally pass though the impressive doors into the centuries between the 7th and the 14th; a cathedral in the desert sands of Nubia; and the results of the pioneering archaeological work of Professor Kazimierz Michałowski and his team.
I’m greeted by a model of the excavated cathedral and a video that announces you can only see what you are about to see in Khartoum – and Warsaw. All the items on display were saved from the flooding of the Aswan Dam.
As I enter the first gallery I gasp with pleasure at the replicated arches and the line of paintings, often incomplete but completely satisfying, all created with tempera on mud plaster and preserved, many for more than a thousand years, in the desert heat. There is one niche with a facsimile and a note that the real item is on loan to the Louvre.
In the second room, obituaries, lintels, door posts, doorknockers and capitals are mainly sandstone. Designs include crosses, but also cobras and lotus.
If you’re interested in the details of the excavation and its history, have a look here. This collage gives you a taste of what you’ll see, as the paintings are uncovered, conserved on site, removed and transported.
You certainly are finding some interesting museums to visit. You must feel steeped in history. 🙂
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History of all kinds, indeed. The Renaissance in northern Italy next!
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Now that sounds intriguing. I hope you post lots of photos 🙂
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That’s the beauty here – you can photograph almost everywhere, including mid-concert: haven’t been to the opera yet! It’ll be interesting to compare it with the Faras wall paintings.
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Sorry – my mistake. I thought you were going to a gallery. I still remember the stunning clarity of the Renaissance paintings I saw in the Tate. Enjoy the opera – that’s a cultural experience I have never had.
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The Renaissance in Northern Italy, Meg?
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At the Warsaw museum!!! No time or space travelling involved.
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Well, well….I thought that must be the case, how great that you have such a plethora of fascinating museums to enjoy!
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Again, Meg …. a magnificent post. And the magical image, you work your camera or mobile hard.
I can see there is a lot more to Warsaw than pre-war, war and after war. I love the way you do your galleries … Excellent job and thanks for taking me “back to the future” *smile
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Back to camera: phone only occasionally. And you work Oscar equally hard! I’m glad you like my galleries. I often wonder if they’re excessive, or too static. Slideshow is too complicated from the WordPress app, if I’m interspersing words. I’m a bit surprised by the quality of these photos – not too much light interference.
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It’s very difficult to make some things justice with a camera. It’s really a great responsibility we take on *smile
Meg, just carry on with your terrific work in words and images.
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I love museums, we have one superb one in Exeter, but Warsaw has a bounty. Some of these images remind me of the ones in the rock hewn churches in Goreme Cappadochia.
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What’s in the Exeter museum? Warsaw does have a lot of museums, but they represent a diverse and diversely dramatic history. Each episode tends to have a museum. The twins went to the army museum yesterday: then there’s Copernicus, Katyń, neon, independence, Mickiewicz … and so it goes on! Warsaw is after all the capital of a proud nation! My favourite specialist museum is the beekeeping one in Slovenia.
I had to look up Goreme in google images. Yes they are similar. Is Cappadocia very dry too? The colour said seem richer.
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Did the twins enjoy the army museum? My city is small but th Royal albert Museum won museum of the year a few years ago. When I was at school, the museum was where I went to mitch off!https://www.rammuseum.org.uk/collections
Cappacocia is in the centre of Turkey, I went in July and it was very dry indeed, but beautiful, I’ve posted pics of the fairy chimneys quite recently.
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Haven’t seen them since the visit. I’ll find out tomorrow. And I’ll be spending a bit of virtual time in your museum. It looks like a treasure chest on a quick glance.
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The geology would be right up your street!
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