The Three Emperors

Today - being a day's holiday (as was yesterday but for 1 meeting at work), I decided to go to the Three Emperors Exhibition. My normal interests do not cover the arts in any great detail, so I wasn't quite sure whether I would enjoy this exhibition. I shouldn't have worried. It is indeed magnificent. The emperor's coats made of silk, and metallic thread. The threads are indistinguishable! The work is of an amazing quality - how long must it have taken? This being an art exhibition, such questions are not addressed. There are scrolls recording the Emperor's journeys around his kingdoms. One is 150 metres long, and about 3 feet high. Each character is individually painted, by the court artist, and has unique cloths and face - none of this approximation that you get in western art, it's all photo quality, or better, because it can't be out of focus. The second room has four of these, I thought I'd never leave it. Later there is a deer hunt, and the deer are all individual, right down to their markings. There are some remarkable jade carvings as well - hideous and yet beautiful at the same time. There are lots of poems - but NO translations!!! Why? The calligraphy is marvellous, but I'd like to know what it SAYS. So the artefacts are amazing, but the presentation of the exhibition is anything but. The displays are cased without imagination, or even context. The lighting is poor - so poor that in some galleries reading the descriptive cards is very difficult. The layout mean that you can't see some small items without blocking the view of the larger ones. Compare this to the British Museum's Persian Exhibition! You can read that review in the archive (http://3cephas.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_3cephas_archive.html), just look for "Persian". So would I recommend that you travel to Piccadilly Circus, and spend £11 on the exhibition - yes unreservedly. The pictures on the site, or anywhere, cannot do justice to the real thing.