Restoring former glories
A little while ago I presented - a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parliament documentary about the conflagration in 1834, which destroyed the old Houses of Parliament, making way for the buildings we know today.
One of the saddest losses in that disaster were the 10 great Elizabethan tapestries depicting the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 - they used to hang in the old House of Lords, which was one of the first buildings consumed by the flames - but we know what they looked like thanks to a series of engravings.
On Saturday 10 April at 8pm, on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parliament, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ deputy political editor James Landale begins the story of how, after more than 150 years, those iconic images are being returned to the Palace of Westminster. He describes how the efforts of a House of Lords researcher - and £330,000 of private sponsorship - have helped persuade peers to revive the project, first launched by Prince Albert, to re-create them.
The prince wanted six tapestries to be recreated on canvas - to hang in a specially designed room next to the new Lords chamber. But work was halted by his death in 1861, with only one painting completed - and the empty spaces still wait to be filled by the pictures.
In the first of a two-part series, Raising The Armada, follows artist Anthony Oakshett and his team in their studio at Wrest Park as they create five paintings to match the one Victorian example. And the programme also hears the tale of the one tapestry which escaped the flames - and its probable fate.
In the second episode, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parliament will report on the installation of the paintings in the House of Lords. They are due to go on public display in the Royal Gallery in June, before being fixed high up on the walls of the Prince's Chamber in autumn 2010.
I'm Mark D'Arcy and I'll be writing about what goes on in the chambers and committee rooms at Westminster.
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