Newsflash 1643: Birmingham, not a town but a village!
‘Moving Here’ was a collaboration between BMAG and students from Birmingham School of Acting. The project explores the theme of migration to Birmingham during medieval times and beyond, specifically focussing on why people moved here. The students developed their ideas into four short films with the help of a writer/director and film maker. They humorously look at how the city grew from a small insignificant village into a bustling market town because of success of migration.
The films will feature in the medieval section of the new Birmingham History Galleries, due to open later this year. This film shows a short snippet from ‘Newsflash 1643’.
Birmingham was legally only a village in the 17th century because its medieval lords never bought a royal charter which would make it a town. Many people moved here because they were free to enter any trade without joining a town guild.
Curator Spot! Brendan Flynn talks about a painting by Willem van de Velde the Younger.
Brendan Flynn, Curator of Fine Art at BMAG, discusses a painting by Willem van de Velde the Younger of a British warship. It was painted in about 1680 and it depicts either HMS Lenox or HMS Hampton Court, both of which were built in 1677. Van de Velde was invited to this country by Charles II in order to depict the new fleet of warships being built here.
The painting is entitled “The English Ship Hampton Court in a Gale”. If you would like to buy a print or a canvas of this work you can on the BMAG prints website.
Curator Spot! Brendan Flynn talks about ‘Erminia and the Shepherd’ – artist Guercino.
Brendan Flynn, Curator of Fine Art at BMAG, talks about ‘Erminia and the Shepherd’ (1619-20) by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, best known as Guercino.
The scene in the painting is taken from Torquato Tasso’s epic poem, La Gerusalemme Liberata published in 1575. Erminia, a pagan princess in love with the crusader, Tancred, disguises herself in armour to follow him. She is chased from the Christian camp and flees to Arcadia where she meets an old shepherd weaving baskets.
Watch a subtitled version of the video on Youtube.
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 