Intended or not, there is a timely message in the Paris exhibition of medieval treasures from the V&A (Paris exhibition aims to dispel myth of ‘primitive’ England in middle ages, 25 June). It is partly shameful, in that it reminds us of a time when, because of an uncompromising ideology, England’s artistic heritage was, according to the exhibition curator, James Robinson, “ruthlessly decimated” and, in the words of the 16th-century rector Michael Sherbrook, “it seemed that every person was intent upon … spoiling what he could”. And partly optimistic, in that it also reminds us that the ideology was succeeded by a more rational approach towards the arts and our culture more generally.
In testifying to “the rich and complex relationship” between France and England that Marie Lavandier of France’s National Monuments Centre refers to, could the exhibition reflect a desire on both sides of the Channel to end the systematic spoiling that continues to be inflicted by the Brexit ideology?
Andrew Hillier
London
• The discovery of England’s artistic endeavours in the middle ages is not entirely new. In his 1931 book The Meaning of Art, Herbert Read said: “During the 12th and 13th centuries it is almost impossible to distinguish between the arts of France and England. But gradually minute differences become accentuated … A quality I can only describe as sweetness creeps into English art – a tender perception of the beauty of intimate things.”
And of the Reformation, he observed: “What English painting, poetry, music and dancing lost by that dreadful and vindictive plague of the spirit, even the imagination cannot conceive.” Happily, London’s National Gallery has long used the Wilton Diptych in its publicity material – and the work itself always has an interested crowd of viewers.
David Redshaw
Saltdean, East Sussex
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