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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower
@bwallower.bsky.social
1.2K followers 540 following 1.1K posts
archaeology, history, environment, quirky stuff -- love London, arts, travel -- writer, organiser, modest activist/stirrer 🏺
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Reposted by Becky Wallower
bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 19h
#CastleSaturday
15th C Aragonese Castle of Otranto: also title of 1st ever Gothic novel.

Horace Walpole's 1764 story played on medievalism + terror, generating a lasting tide of ghosts + ghouls.

He chose name as it was 'well sounding', not even aware of real castle on Puglian coast till 1786.
View of stone built 15th C Castle of Otranto with bridge leading over deep moat to gateway in wall. Huge round towers either side of bridge have bases slanting outwards into moat. Two round towers of Castle of Otranto, with bases sloping slightly outwards into moat. Only a few horizontal slit windows/openings penetrate the very solid stone walls.
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 10h
Lovely! Having a good trip by the looks of it....
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 18h
Neither did I - just goes to show: travel does broaden the mind!
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 18h
Baroque frou-frou not my favourite style, but...crikey, what a lotta fabric!
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/01/f...
Fit for a king: the drapery bedchamber at Germany's ‘Versailles of Swabia’ presents conservators with a special challenge
Ludwigsburg Palace, a Baroque castle once home to King Friedrich I of Württemberg, is undergoing restoration—which include's the monarch's unique, tent-like bedroom
www.theartnewspaper.com
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 19h
#CastleSaturday
15th C Aragonese Castle of Otranto: also title of 1st ever Gothic novel.

Horace Walpole's 1764 story played on medievalism + terror, generating a lasting tide of ghosts + ghouls.

He chose name as it was 'well sounding', not even aware of real castle on Puglian coast till 1786.
View of stone built 15th C Castle of Otranto with bridge leading over deep moat to gateway in wall. Huge round towers either side of bridge have bases slanting outwards into moat. Two round towers of Castle of Otranto, with bases sloping slightly outwards into moat. Only a few horizontal slit windows/openings penetrate the very solid stone walls.
2 13 68
Reposted by Becky Wallower
bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 1d
#FindsFriday 🏺
Bronze chimera: likely emblem (episema) on C6 BC warrior's shield w lion's head on flame-like mane + scaly fierce snake striking from centre.
From high status tomb w arms, tools, ceramics + iron wheels of chariot excavated in Melfi, Basilicata.
Now in Nat Archaeological Museum there.
A large thin bronze decoration probably for a 6th C BC warrior's shield. At the top the head of a beast with a stylised lion's head and snout, on a long neck with incised flame-like mane, emerges from a scaly circle. This serves as the body of a fierce snake (which probably wrapped round the lion's body), which extends to the top right with a long head and open mouth, with wing below lower jaw.
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 1d
#FindsFriday 🏺
Bronze chimera: likely emblem (episema) on C6 BC warrior's shield w lion's head on flame-like mane + scaly fierce snake striking from centre.
From high status tomb w arms, tools, ceramics + iron wheels of chariot excavated in Melfi, Basilicata.
Now in Nat Archaeological Museum there.
A large thin bronze decoration probably for a 6th C BC warrior's shield. At the top the head of a beast with a stylised lion's head and snout, on a long neck with incised flame-like mane, emerges from a scaly circle. This serves as the body of a fierce snake (which probably wrapped round the lion's body), which extends to the top right with a long head and open mouth, with wing below lower jaw.
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Reposted by Becky Wallower
bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 2d
#AdoorableThursday
In fact a false door, painted to left of tablinium, in house of local #Pompeii official C. Iulius Polybius w early style facade.
Like in recent discoveries in the city, owner was in process of upgrading 2C BC property, hence amphorae + heap of lime piled in the corner.
#Roman 🏺
A painted door, included in the layout of the tablinium for symmetry. It's actually plaster, showing four panels within a red and white doorframe. The four panels have the appearance of being on two doors, white with red borders bounded by darker outlines, and three circles on the section dividing upper and lower panels on each one. A heap of building material and some broken amphorae are shown to the left of the false door. A view showing the layout of the tablinium and the painted false door. The room has white painted walls with a red border at the top, a large entrance through the facing wall leading to other parts of the site. The painted false door is to the left of this, and an empty doorway is on the right - clearly intended to hold a 'real' door. Remains of an upper level are also evident, with five window openings in the wall over the doors/entrance.
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Reposted by Becky Wallower
c20society.bsky.social
C20 Society @c20society.bsky.social · 2d
Happy 60th Birthday to the BT Tower!

Built 1961-65 to the designs of Eric Bedford, Chief Architect at the Ministry of Public Works, the 582ft telecommunications tower is one of Britain's most distinctive post-war buildings and after being sold in 2024, is set to be converted to a destination hotel.
BT Tower, Fitzrovia, London - Eric Bedford, Chief Architect at the Ministry of Public Buildings, 1961-65 Image credit: James Burbs (@londonfromtherooftops)
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 2d
What fantastic preservation.
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 2d
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/08/w...
With works by Munch and Mamma Andersson, the British Museum reveals the darkness of Nordic noir
The survey brings together more than 150 works by 100 different artists for a peek behind the clichés of apparently idyllic Nordic life
www.theartnewspaper.com
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 2d
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/09/d...
Discovery of 11,000-year-old carved face in Turkey offers new insight into early human expression
A pillar featuring detailed facial features was unearthed in Karahan Tepe near the Syrian border
www.theartnewspaper.com
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 2d
Yes - symmetry figures in many a room in many a house.
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 2d
#AdoorableThursday
In fact a false door, painted to left of tablinium, in house of local #Pompeii official C. Iulius Polybius w early style facade.
Like in recent discoveries in the city, owner was in process of upgrading 2C BC property, hence amphorae + heap of lime piled in the corner.
#Roman 🏺
A painted door, included in the layout of the tablinium for symmetry. It's actually plaster, showing four panels within a red and white doorframe. The four panels have the appearance of being on two doors, white with red borders bounded by darker outlines, and three circles on the section dividing upper and lower panels on each one. A heap of building material and some broken amphorae are shown to the left of the false door. A view showing the layout of the tablinium and the painted false door. The room has white painted walls with a red border at the top, a large entrance through the facing wall leading to other parts of the site. The painted false door is to the left of this, and an empty doorway is on the right - clearly intended to hold a 'real' door. Remains of an upper level are also evident, with five window openings in the wall over the doors/entrance.
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Reposted by Becky Wallower
bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 3d
Woodensday
Very fine Nonsuch Chest probably given to St Saviour's Church (now Southwark Cathedral) by the Sheriff of London 1588.
Likely work of Flemish refugees who had settled in Borough:
oak w walnut, pear, cherry, box, rosewood, ash, yew, holly + ebony inlay. Used to hold parish records.
Very large oak chest decorated with multiple panels of fine inlay in walnut, pear, cherry, box, rosewood, ash, yew, holly + ebony. Panel themes include exotic townscapes, coat of arms, geometric and floral ones. It rests on ball shaped feet, six of which are visible from the front.
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 3d
Definitely olive - Puglia is olive central, and has been for centuries.
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 3d
Woodensday
Very fine Nonsuch Chest probably given to St Saviour's Church (now Southwark Cathedral) by the Sheriff of London 1588.
Likely work of Flemish refugees who had settled in Borough:
oak w walnut, pear, cherry, box, rosewood, ash, yew, holly + ebony inlay. Used to hold parish records.
Very large oak chest decorated with multiple panels of fine inlay in walnut, pear, cherry, box, rosewood, ash, yew, holly + ebony. Panel themes include exotic townscapes, coat of arms, geometric and floral ones. It rests on ball shaped feet, six of which are visible from the front.
1 7 32
Reposted by Becky Wallower
bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 4d
#ThickTrunkTuesday
May have lost a bit of its middle, but an undeniably thickly trunked, several hundred year old olive tree by the #Roman city/archaeological park of Egnazia, Puglia.
Still thriving, and one amongst many.
Gnarly old olive tree with hollowed out trunk in late summer leaf.
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 4d
#ThickTrunkTuesday
May have lost a bit of its middle, but an undeniably thickly trunked, several hundred year old olive tree by the #Roman city/archaeological park of Egnazia, Puglia.
Still thriving, and one amongst many.
Gnarly old olive tree with hollowed out trunk in late summer leaf.
4 9 98
Reposted by Becky Wallower
deanwilson.bsky.social
Dean Wilson @deanwilson.bsky.social · 5d
One moon, two seagulls.
#Withernsea
#Harvestmoon
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Reposted by Becky Wallower
mattpope.bsky.social
Dr Matt Pope @mattpope.bsky.social · 5d
Awful news from Wales, the St Fagan's Museum has been broken into and prehistoric goldwork has been taken. Its painful to think what objects might now be at risk. Thoughts with the museum team who must be devastated, all speed to the police and a curse on the crooks.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
St Fagans: Bronze Age gold jewellery stolen from musuem
Police are investigating a burglary at St Fagans museum in the early hours of Monday morning.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Reposted by Becky Wallower
bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 5d
#MosaicMonday 🏺
One of the many superb floors of #Roman Taranto - a triclinium floor from late 2C high status home.
Scenes of Dionysian satyr abducting nymph in a cave, w panther + tiger at sides, plus lion attacking horse, but also gorgeous little birds and fruits.
MArTA - Nat Arch Museum Taranto
Large elaborate mosaic. Within two black lines on white background, a guilloche border surrounds the large floor, and each of the panels within. Large panel in centre has Dionysian satyr abducting nymph in a cave, and another large one nearest viewer shows lion attacking horse. Rectangular panels either side of centre have tiger and panther facing sides, and 4 square panels either side of lion/horse panel have birds and fruit. At top are 12 further panels, all facing viewer: 4 with birds/fruit and 4 at the top with intertwining geometric designs.
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 5d
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/03/f...
From dangerous erotica to secret smoking canteens: ten things you didn't know about The British Museum
Behind its ordered, Neo-Classical façade, the London institution has been home to plenty of intrigue and eccentricity
www.theartnewspaper.com
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 5d
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/06/v...
Victoria & Albert Museum to expand Gilbert Galleries to explore looting and provenance
Opening next March, the revamp will increase the number of galleries from four to seven as part of the museum's Future Plan development programme
www.theartnewspaper.com
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bwallower.bsky.social
Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 5d
#MosaicMonday 🏺
One of the many superb floors of #Roman Taranto - a triclinium floor from late 2C high status home.
Scenes of Dionysian satyr abducting nymph in a cave, w panther + tiger at sides, plus lion attacking horse, but also gorgeous little birds and fruits.
MArTA - Nat Arch Museum Taranto
Large elaborate mosaic. Within two black lines on white background, a guilloche border surrounds the large floor, and each of the panels within. Large panel in centre has Dionysian satyr abducting nymph in a cave, and another large one nearest viewer shows lion attacking horse. Rectangular panels either side of centre have tiger and panther facing sides, and 4 square panels either side of lion/horse panel have birds and fruit. At top are 12 further panels, all facing viewer: 4 with birds/fruit and 4 at the top with intertwining geometric designs.
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