Picto Diary - 01 October 2019 - London

Above: The Rosetta Stone. British Museum. London, England. 01 October 2019.

Out and about in London.

One of this trip's top twelve

Full top twelve list (no particular order):

The Peace Wall in Belfast
Neolithic ruins in Scotland's outer islands
Scapa Flow
Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral
St. Andrew's Golf Club
Loch Ness
Distilleries - Bushmills and Oban
Stirling Castle
Patrick Gilbeaud Restaurant, Dublin
National Gallery of Ireland
The Rosetta Stone
"The Supper At Emmaus" Caravaggio

Note: This represents the first time in world history that a traveler has listed the exact same highlights for a two week holiday. — with Margaret Taylor at British Museum.

Above: Map of Sahara Desert circa 8,000 BC. British Museum. London, England. 01 October 2019.

Out and about in London.

Note on Climate Change.

Sahara map shown is part of Egypt Exhibit at British Museum.

At the end of the last ice age ten thousand or so years ago, beaucoup rain fell in the Sahara. Mankind, albeit stone age, thrived there until the rain stopped falling and the desert dried up.

Thereupon, man migrated east to the Nile River delta and so began mankind's first great civilization circa 5000 BC.

Earlier this year, with Markco, I motorcycled to Hovenweep National Monument in southeastern Utah. There I saw the ruins of the Puebloan peoples who, after 500 years of habitation in the area, had to skedaddle around 1200 AD because the annual rains stopped coming.

The Puebloans weren't as lucky as the ancient Egyptians. They migrated south, and their descendants the Hopi Indians, didn't ever amount to much as a people.

North American climate has been warming since the end of the last ice age, ten thousand years ago. Half the continent is rising (seas lowering) because of glacial rebound.

As climate inevitability changes, will our culture adapt and thrive like the Egyptians or atrophy like the Puebloan/Hopi? — with Margaret Taylor at British Museum.

Above: Piccadilly Circus. London, England. 01 October 2019.

Out and about in London.

TIMDT observes the chaos.

20K steps in London today. Fish and Chips at lunch. Indian food (Jamovar) for dinner.

Above: "The Supper at Emmaus." Michaelangelo Merisi da Carivaggio. National Gallery. London, England. 01 October 2019.

Out and about in London.

"The Supper at Emmaus" - Michaelangelo Merisi da Carivaggio.

The restoration touches of Gabriel Allon on this piece were impossible to detect, so delicate was his hand, so precise his sense if color and texture.

My fruitless attempt earlier in the day to locate Julian Isherwood pains still as I fear I'll never determine if the provenance of this great work included a connection to my own misbegotten brush with artistic efforts while working as a restoration intern at the Vatican back in the early '70's.

No, I never met the great art restorer Allon. I don't know what happened to him. Some say he entered a life of spy craft, working as an MI6 double agent in Moscow. Others say he ended up at an Israeli kibbutzim.

I laugh to myself when I reflect on those crazy days I spent at the Vatican as a wannabe art restorer. My fellow apprentice new-bees and I were never given anything substantial to work on...old icons, ornamented furniture pieces yes...but, of course, Caravaggios, no.

Still, I'll never forget the day that some Swiss Guards, hauling a covered painting, entered the workshop in the bowels of the Vatican. Two guards carried the painting, while two accompanied carrying automatic weapons.

As they passed, I swear I heard Fabio, the chief custodian of the Vatican art collection, gasp the word 'Emmaus!"

I didn't think of it at the time, but in hindsight, I realize that the painting carried under wraps that day must have been the great Caravaggio masterpiece, "The Supper at Emmaus."

The thought that I was in touching distance of the great masterpiece and didn't see it now drives me crazy.

Oh, how we young apprentices loved Caravaggio. Arrogant, rebellious and a murderer, Caravaggio's short and tempestuous life matched the drama of his works. Characterized by their dramatic, almost theatrical lighting, Caravaggio's paintings were controversial, popular, and hugely influential on succeeding generations of painters all over Europe.

And I missed the "Emmaus!"

Life went on. I wasn't any good at art restoration. Fabio fired me within a year of my arrival at the Vatican. I took up the trade of international consumer banking spending 14 years in the Far East and ten years between New York and Miami.

I never gave much thought about my stint as an art restoration trainee....until....I received, a month or so ago, a secure email from one of my fellow Vatican apprentice trainees, Julian Isherwood.

Julian and I had stayed in touch over the years...Christmas card kind of 'in touch."

Julian had set up an art gallery in London in the early '90's. On a business trip to London circa 1993, I saw Julian. It was the first time we had seen one another in twenty years. It was at that rendezvous that Julian told me about his friendship with the great art restorer, Gabriel Allon. Julian mentioned that Allon, working directly for The Pope, had just completed a restoration of Caravaggio 's great "Emmaus...."

So, twenty five years after meeting in London, I get this email, out if the blue, from Julian. I quote:

"Bishop,

Do you remember the day when armed Swiss guards brought a covered painting into the Vatican art storage room? That painting was Caravaggio's "Emmaus." It sat untouched in the bowels of the Vatican for twenty years until it was restored by Gabriel Allon. I think I told you about Allon's restoration work on the painting when you were here twenty years ago.

Bishop. I am now in possession of that painting. It was stolen from The Vatican five years ago. The Pope, not wanting to make the theft public, hired Gabriel Allon, now an Israeli spy master, to recover the painting.

Allon's recovery efforts proved successful....I.won't go into the whys and wherefores in this note...and Allon passed the painting on to me for safekeeping at my London Gallery until it can be safely returned to the Vatican.

Bishop. I want you to see the painting that eluded you forty years ago. Meet me at my London gallery on 01 October 2019 at 3:00 PM.

Julian Isherwood"

I made the rendezvous today, but, neither Julian nor his galley were there. There was a gallery all right: Philip Mould Company. The proprietor said he took over a vacant premises six months ago. He dealt with an agent and didn't know who the prior tenant was.

I stood, befuddled, in front of what should have been Julian 's London art gallery. Suddenly, a drone swooped in front of me and dropped a white envelope, with Julian's name finely embossed....no return address.

Inside the envelope was a card with a hand written note:

Bishop,

Proceed to the National Gallery, Hall 14, where you will see the "Emmaus." I'll explain later.

Julian

And that's it!!!

Naturally, I walked to the National Gallery and found the painting exactly as Julian had said.

I realized there is a story here with more questions than answers. I vowed to get to the bottom of things at the earliest possible moment. — at National Gallery.

Above: Eisenhower Plaque. Grovesner Square. London, England. 01 October 2019.