davidfenton.ie

It was Baudelaire who opined that sculpture is “the stuff you bump into when you step backwards to admire a painting.” When the British Museum first deigned to open its doors to the general public somebody bumped into a Greek amphora, knocked it off its pedestal and smashed it to pieces. It was the one from Keat’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”

When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou sayst,
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” -that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Ah well, he wasn’t to know. At least they did stick it back together again.

Tags: British Museum, Keats, Ode on a Greek Urn, painting, sculpture