Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman London’s Amphitheatre
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman London’s Amphitheatre is a real treasure trove of a place that I visited last week. I must be honest and say the reason I went there was to have a wee peek at the Roman Amphitheatre, looking at dusty old paintings just doesn’t do anything for me…they normally bore the living daylights out of me!
Friday’s at the Guildhall Art Gallery is free entry, along with a free tour if you wish. Which is the sort of price range I need in these recessionary times. It means that I have a few more quid to put into my escape from the UK fund, which I’m slowly building up…paradise hear I come again.
As I walked through the doors, the security guy said I have arrived at just the right time, the guided tour is about to begin. I could feel the sweat start to form on my forehead…guided tour of some dusty old paintings…yikes…no fucking way. I was only hear to see the Roman Amphitheatre! I didn’t want to seem rude, so I asked how long the tour lasted for…40 minutes. So somehow I found myself on the guided tour.
The guided tour would take in some of the highlights of the permanent collection, as well as the amphitheatre. I was wasn’t looking forward to it…this just wasn’t my sort of thing. I had to figure out an escape plan. There were 5 of us on the tour, I was the youngster. The Guildhall Art Gallery has around 4000 pieces of art in it’s collection, with around 250 on display at any one time.
The first painting we stopped at really was my biggest nightmare…It was by William Miller and depicted the Swearing in of Alderman Nathaniel Newham as Lord Mayor of London. Somehow I became interested in the story of the painting and the various characters in the scene. Could a dusty old boring painting really contain so much history…I must admit I was impressed with the guide and his knowledge, as well as how he explained things in a non boring manner.
My personal favourite painting was the massive and hugely impressive ‘The Siege of Gibraltar’ by John Singleton Copley, which incidentally took him 8 years to paint. This painting is based on a real attack that took place in Gibraltar on September 13, 1782 and I really was intrigued by the story this painting told. Impressive stuff indeed. After the tour was over I came back and stood and looked at this truly beautiful painting for a good 20 minutes.
Other paintings that hit the button for me were, My First Sermon, The Last Evening, Ninth of November, The Waterworks at London Bridge on Fire 1779, Entrance to the Fleet River, The Last Evening and The Story of Smithfield Market exhibtion was well worth looking at. So many fantastic pieces of art..that impressed the hell out of me. There was of course plenty of boring paintings of the British ruling classes and civic leaders, which I looked the other way when I passed them by!
London’s Roman Amphitheatre, which is actually inside the Gallery was discovered in in 1988 and is the only Roman amphitheatre in the city. Not much remains of the amphitheatre, apart from a few segments of the walls and part of the sewers…however the gallery have imaginatively used digital technology to enhance the visitors experience of what the the 7000 seater amphitheatre originally looked like.
Looking at paintings of Britain’s elite and ruling classes from years gone by still bores the hell out of me, bunch of tossers! But I must admit there were quite a few paintings in the Gallery that I was excited and impressed by…which surprised the hell out of me…and of course London’s Roman Amphitheatre maybe isn’t the most impressive looking ruin that you are ever likely to see, however it is still worthy of a visit.
The Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman London’s Amphitheatre is definitely worth a visit and I would thoroughly recommend taking the guided tour. If the guided tour can get a guy like me who breaks out in a cold sweat at the prospect of spending an hour looking at pictures, to enjoy the beauty and appreciate some of those dusty old paintings it has to be good!
Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman London’s Amphitheatre
Guildhall Yard
London
EC2P 2EJ
For Opeining Times
& Entry Costs Visit City of London
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