François Fouquet (1787–1870), Model of the Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, early 19th century, plaster of Paris, height 25 cm (of glass case). Sir John Soane’s Museum, London
Recent links of note:
A short history of statue-toppling
Martin Gayford, The Spectator
The news has now reached our fair shores: Rhodes must fall. Not the island, of course. (In a way, that fell a long time ago.) No, the Rhodes in question is Cecil, that famous benefactor of scholarships. A movement has taken hold at Oxford to bring down Oriel College’s statue of that old colossus, owing to his crimes. The court of history has convicted him of “racism and imperialism,” and, like all historical figures, he is guilty mostly of not having been born in our contemporary times. So if Rhodes is to come down and endure a physical rustication (and let us be clear: he shouldn’t), at the very least we should understand the history of statue-toppling. Martin Gayford offers just that in The Spectator.
Islam v. Free Speech: Twitter Surrenders
Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review
As Andrew McCarthy tells it, it’s not just the Islamists who wish to undermine that most fundamental of Western liberties: freedom of speech. Indeed, Western governments, the United States’ included, have sponsored UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18, which “calls on nations to ban speech that could promote hostility to Islam.” Consider the constitutionality of that for a moment. Twitter has just now announced that it “prohibits the promotion of hate content, sensitive topics, and violence globally.” And while it’s Twitter’s right to do that as a private company, what exactly does it say about our resolve?
Israeli high court says antiquities dealers must document all artifacts online
Anny Shaw, The Art Newspaper
It’s a widely acknowledged but little-discussed fact that much of the antiquities trade is less than clean. The black market thrives and many buyers have little sense of objects’ actual provenance. That may change, at least in the Middle East, with the Israeli high court rejecting a request by antiquities dealers in the country to overturn a law requiring them to digitally document their entire inventories. The more we know of what’s out there, the better chance that artifacts will be returned to their rightful owners. With Egypt launching similar initiatives, the antiquities trade may begin to shed its reputation for seediness.
Sir John Soane’s private apartments are a public treasure
Gillian Darley, Apollo
Sir John Soane’s Museum, tucked away as it is in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, is one of London’s great hidden cultural pearls. It has always been worth a visit for its extensive collection of architectural models, drawings, and plans, but the museum is now even more appealing with the restoration of the second floor to its original domestic design. With the always impressive model room now displaying forty of the one hundred twenty in the collection, it’s high time to return to the Soane or visit for the very first time.
From our pages:
International law v. the people
Keith Windschuttle
On the effects of international law in Australia.