Inspiration in Nature

A stunning display of the life of the Silk Moth from the Natural History archives at Wollaton Hall. 

After travelling all the way to London to view cocoons and being very disappointed at not be able to see any displayed, I was so happy to receive a reply back from the Curator at my local museum, Wollaton Hall, to say that they had a collection of silk moths in storage and I could make an appointment to view them.

The display was fantastic, very inspirational and I was able to view them up close, the museum staff were very helpful as was the curator who organised a room for me to spend as much time as I liked studying them.

You can sometimes under-estimate whats available on your doorstep, and I certainly did, I’m going to make more of an effort to support local museums and visit more regularly. 

‘Christ Before Pilate’ by Giovanni Bologna c.1579/80

‘Christ Before Pilate’ by Giovanni Bologna, known as Giambologna c.1579/80

Also presented in the V & A were a collection of wax reliefs depicting religious scenes, the wax would have been applied to wooden boards and sculpted, in some places you can see small patches of the wood grain showing through. 

The scenes are incredible with so much life to them, even in the smallest corner there is secondary stories playing out, such as the small child and the dog which features in the second relief 'Pilate Washes His Hands As Jesus Is Led Away’.

The label reads “Giambolona distorted the modelling of the figures to compensate for the placement of the finished bronze reliefs. These also survive, and were probably set just above eye level. Gambolling later reproduced the reliefs for his own funerary chapel in Florence.”

 It’s amazing that wax pieces such as these still survive, researching wax sculptures has been a difficult topic as very little survives or the wax is destroyed in the casting process. The V & A have a small but comprehensive collection of waxes and is worth looking for. I would note that in summer months not all off the wax pieces may be on display due to the heat. Luckily I visited on a cold January day.

‘Rape of the Sabines’ by Giovanni Bologna c.1579

Sketch model for the ‘Rape of the Sabines’ by Giovanni Bologna c.1579

Shown in the V & A museum, the attention to detail on this 500 years old wax model was amazingly intricate. 

The tag for the model reads “ Working on marble on a grand scale was technically difficult. Spurred on by Michelangelo’s unfulfilled plans to produce a three-figure marble group, Giambologna rose to the challenge. These two wax models, with their complex arrangement of interlocking figures, represent the first stages in his design. The resulting sculpture was given it’s title only after Francesco de'Medici put it on public display in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence.”