neil guthrie
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nguthrie.bsky.social
neil guthrie
@nguthrie.bsky.social
1.9K followers 330 following 1.4K posts
Collector. Antiquary. The Material Culture of the Jacobites (2014). Guthrie’s Guide to Better Legal Writing (2017, 2021). Trustee, George R Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art
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nguthrie.bsky.social
The mirror room, Residenz, Würzburg #c18th #c18 #18thc
A concoction of gilt rococo tendrils framing mirrors on all surfaces of the room. The panelling and furniture of most other rooms in the Residenz had been removed to safety and were reinstalled after the war, but the mirrors in this room were too heavy to be moved. The heat from Allied bombs in WWII actually melted the glass and scorched the woodwork, so this is an entire reconstruction. The Tiepolo staircase withstood the bombs (and a 19C fire), defying the sceptics who thought Balthasar Neumann's huge vault would collapse shortly after construction
November 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM
nguthrie.bsky.social
The Emperor Hall with Tiepolo's frescos of the wedding of Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrice of Burgundy, Residenz, Würzburg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Magnificent, but not as impressive as the staircase with its dramatic progression and dizzying perspective. Here, the Bishop of Würzburg blesses the kneeling couple
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
The White Hall, Residenz, Würzburg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Delicate rococo plasterwork of dragons, birds and putti on a ceiling above similarly elaborate overdoors
November 12, 2025 at 11:26 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
GB Tiepolo's frescos of the 4 continents in Würzburg were the principal objective of my south German tour & did not disappoint. Copious but sublimely controlled, magnificent colour, pure theatre #c18th #c18 #18thc (check the alt, @brophylevey.bsky.social !)
I can't do better than quote the elegant prose of Sir Michael Levey in Painting in Eighteenth-Century Venice (1959; 1994): 'No photographs unfortunately can give a proper conception of the ceiling as a whole, nor of the effect on the visitor slowly climbing the staircase as the vast fresco gradually expands before him. [...] Nothing less than the four Continents of the world are assebled to do homage to the reigning Prince-Bishop, Carl Philipp von Greiffenklau, whose ermine-draped portrait is upheld by putti while Fame trumpets his name to the ends of the earth. The extraordinary apotheosis of this petty and unimpressive person, one of a long line of Prince-Bishops whom the world has forgotten, is a triumph of sentiment over reason. So absurd, indeed, is it to suppose that the Continents would ever pay any attention whatsoever to Carl Philipp von Greiffenklau that the conception is almost imaginative. [...] Tiepolo's felicitous touch ... [keeps] the whole vast scheme fresh and lively and marvellously effortless. Never again could even Tiepolo express himself with such exuberance and enchanted virtuosity. Given the globe to create, his imagination expanded globally. Such an achievement could happen only once.'
November 11, 2025 at 2:31 PM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Johann Zick, study for a ceiling depicting the history of the bishopric of Speyer (1752), which looks strangely Futurist or Cubist, especially from a distance. Museum für Franken, Würzburg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Study for an allegorical/historical ceiling with an oddly geometric pattern radiating from the centre that suggests early 20th-century modernism
November 10, 2025 at 10:34 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Giambattisto Tiepolo, preparatory study for the huge fresco in the Kaisersaal in the Residenz of Apollo leading Beatrice of Burgundy to the emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) (c1751), Museum für Franken, Würzburg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Apollo in his chariot, floating on sun-diffused clouds, brings an allegory of the county of Burgundy to her bridegroom, the genius imperii or personification of the Empire. The heiress of Burgundy married the emperor in Würzburg in 1154
November 9, 2025 at 12:23 PM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Pair of silver tureens (Breslau, c1792-93) in the window of an antique shop (fortunately closed for the day) in Bamberg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Very tall neo-classical tureens in the window of a fancy antiques dealer on the main drag of Bamberg Very tall neo-classical tureens in the window of a fancy antiques dealer on the main drag of Bamberg
November 8, 2025 at 12:46 PM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Doorknob (c1720-30) in the municipal historical museum, Bamberg #c18th #c18 #18thc
The face of a jolly little chappie rendered in bronze for a Bamberg burgher's front door
November 7, 2025 at 11:42 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Why be a bishop if you can be a prince-bishop? Here, the very princely reception hall of the palace of the secular and ecclesiastical rulers of Bamberg up to the end of the Empire (not that far in the future when this room was completed in 1709) #c18th #c18 #18thc
Black and white marble floor and flamboyant rococo stoves for heating, large portraits, huge crystal chandeliers, frescoed ceiling. Not spiritual in the least! One of the marble stoves, with a black base and exuberant white putti, allegorical figures and military trophies above, flanked by (quite bad) portraits of past prince-bishops
November 6, 2025 at 11:58 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Four heads of putti (c1760), Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Four carved and painted wooden heads of babies with wings on their shoulders, mounted on a wall. Two look rather bilious.
November 5, 2025 at 11:34 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
St Notburga with the miraculous sickle which remained suspended in the air to allow her to skive off work in order to feed the poor with the bread she holds in her apron (Munich, c1775-80), Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Polychrome (well, hands and face - her dress, footwear and hat are entirely gilt) wooden figure, almost life-sized, holding a sickle aloft and with an apron full of bread rolls. Notburga, pious Tyrolean peasant girl, wasn't canonised until 1862, but venerated since the Middle Ages
November 4, 2025 at 11:16 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Harlequin costume (German, #c18th #c18 #18thc), Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg
Wool jacket and trousers with inlaid patchwork in yellow, white green and red with animals embroidered in wool and silk
November 3, 2025 at 11:17 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Memento mori (c1720-25) carved by Paul Egell of Mannheim, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Pearwood carving of a largely decomposed human head (right ear, beard and some hair intact) resting on a tasselled cushion. A snake (its head broken off) is coiled around the edge
November 2, 2025 at 11:10 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Christian Seybold, self-portrait (1759), Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg #c18th #c18 #18thc
One of Seybold's many self-portraits, here in middle age wearing a blue velvet jacket and an open-necked shirt, a loose cap on his head
November 1, 2025 at 10:07 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
The Chinese tower and guesthouse (the latter geschlossen for renos), plus urban surfer dudes, English Garden, Munich (1792) #c18th #c18 #18thc
The pagoda-like tower (now surrounded by the inevitable beer garden) The guesthouse, yellow plaster with curved choinoiserie gables and copper roofing, recently a fancy-ish restaurant Surfers in wetsuits on the banks of a swiftly flowing manmade channel Another shot of the dudes on the bank. Couldn’t manage to catch them in action
October 31, 2025 at 10:15 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Porcelain from the Nymphenburg factory in a small museum at the palace #c18th #c18 #18thc
White porcelain figure of a lady striking a pose. And the category is ... Bavarian! Tureen painted in red, green and blue on white in a pattern derived from ikat textiles, topped with a lemon and its sliced end Plate painted to look like a piece of natural pine panelling, with trompe-l'œuil engravings of landscapes in black and white 'pinned' to the centre of the plate and around the rim Ecuelle and stand - white with sprigs of flowers
October 30, 2025 at 10:07 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Electoral coach and sleighs, Nymphenburg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Huge rococo coach in gilt wood, designed to be drawn by eight horses Huge rococo coach in gilt wood, designed to be drawn by eight horses Fanciful rococo sleigh in gilt wood Fanciful rococo sleigh in gilt wood
October 29, 2025 at 9:47 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Pagodenburg, a further pavilion at Nymphenburg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Not in the form of a pagoda - the name name comes from ‘pagod’ (a word for a Chinese deity’. Rather, a neo-classical pavilion Blue and white painted ceiling in an octagonal hall. Delicate rococo scrollwork, busts and figures Blue and white tiles lining a small interior staircase On a ceiling, tubby chinoiserie figure painted in blue on a white background. He is naked to the waist and holds a large parasol, standing on a flimsy piece of rococo scrollwork with a pair of pelicans below him
October 28, 2025 at 9:59 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Badenburg, a bathing pavilion in the grounds of Nymphenburg #c18th #c18 #18thc
Chinese wallpaper depicting birds birds (including a pair of peafowl) perched on and flying amidst the leafy branches of small trees - in green on a pink/buff background Chinese wallpaper reflected in a rococo mirror framed with gilt dragons A panel of the green and buff/pink bird wallpaper next to a white marble fireplace with a gold-framed mirror resting in the mantel and a painting of a white fox with a partridge in its mouth directly above The extraordinary two-level bathing hall, with an ornate gilt bronze gallery overlooking the bathing area below, which is tiled in blue and white with a two-tiered marble bench at one end and two gold taps on the side wall. It must have taken hours to get the water to waist level! Not the only bath-house in Munich, but certainly the prettiest ;)
October 27, 2025 at 9:56 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
I'm back in Toronto, but if you'll indulge me the travel snaps will continue! Here, Amalienburg, a pavilion in the grounds of the Nymphenburg palace #c18th #c18 #18thc
View of the entrance hall with rococo hunting trophies painted in blue on the white panelling and, all around the bottom, arched niches to serve as kennels for the Electress Maria Amalia’s dogs Enfilade from a room with yellow panelling and silvered rococo carving into the central Hall of Mirrors, large clear glass chandeliers without drops hanging from the centre of each room The Hall of Mirrors, with nicely clouded mirrors on each side of the octagonal (?) room, surrounded by a profusion of pale gold rococo boiseries in a pale blue background Ceiling detail: silvery rococo carving of nymphs, birds, foliage and hunting trophies against a backdrop of pale blue and pale pink
October 26, 2025 at 8:38 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Nymphenburg Palace, Munich #c18th #c18 #18thc
The palace on a misty morning The great central hall - ornate with stucco and gilding, brightly painted allegorical ceiling - but still light and airy Detail of an overdoor with musical instruments un white stucco, gilt scrollwork and a bust within a rococo frame The pilasters and chandeliers of the central hall
October 25, 2025 at 4:30 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Papal medal (1733) depicting the front of the basilica of St John Lateran, Münzsammlung, Munich #c18th #c18 #18thc
Gold medal with scrollwork and a loop for suspension applied to the top edge. Inscribed ADORATE DOMINVM IN ATRIO SANCTO EIVS ('Adore the Lord in his holy court') around a depiction of façade of the basilica (identified on a little banner below with the date in Roman numerals in the exergue). Obverse presumably a portrait of Pope Clement XII
October 24, 2025 at 4:24 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
François Boucher, portrait of Madame de Pompadour (1756), maîtresse en titre (the main one) of Louis XV, Alte Pinakothek #c18th #c18 #18thc
Depicted as a lady of wealth, (soft) power and taste, wearing a green silk gown trimmed with pink roses and ribbons, seated on a pink and white sofa that peeps out from behind the elaborate dress, framed by yellow silk draperies, with a bookcase surmounted by an enormous clock in the background and a small black and tan spaniel at her feet. On a small table to her right are letters; next to the dog, drawings
October 23, 2025 at 4:44 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
François Boucher, portrait of Marie-Louise O'Murphy aka de Morphy (1752), one of the petites maîtresses (minor mistresses) of Louis XV, Alte Pinakothek #c18th #c18 #18thc @museumbums.bsky.social
She lies naked on a sofa, propped up on her elbows, exposing her voluptuous bottom. The white and pink of the bedclothes and O'Murphy's fresh skin colour contrast with the green velvet that covers the sofa, the green velvet drapery that hangs down and the green of the wall hangings. O'Murphy had the temerity to think she could oust La Pompadour as maîtresse en titre and was banished (she had a good run for a bit though)
October 22, 2025 at 4:04 AM
nguthrie.bsky.social
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Girl with a lapdog (c1770-75), Alte Pinakothek #c18th #c18 #18thc
A young woman lying naked on her back on a bed with white sheets and a pale yellow canopy that surrounds the composition. The girl's legs are raised at a right angle to her body and she is playing with a small white spaniel that is perched on top of them. The dog's long tail hangs down and suggestively covers the girl's pudenda
October 21, 2025 at 4:51 AM