insideKENT Magazine Issue 40 - July 2015 | Page 22

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge CANTERBURY in the Age of Magna Carta Canterbury has strong connections with Magna Carta being one of the five charter towns in England. An extensive programme of events is planned to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of this great charter in 1215. To mark the importance of the city to Magna Carta, The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, Canterbury’s cultural hub, has organised a special exhibition: Canterbury in the Age of Magna Carta. Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton (1150 – 1228), together with 25 barons, including Robert De Fitzwalter and other bishops engineered the sealing of the Magna Carta by the King. One of the star exhibits in the show are two lifesized plaster statues which portray two key figures in the history of Magna Carta; the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, and Baron Robert De Fitzwalter. For 15 years, the statues sat in storage awaiting conservation. This year, to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta, Canterbury Museums and Galleries undertook a significant conservation project to enable their display. These statues represent the foundations of democracy and connect us to the sealing of one of the most important documents ever written and to the individuals who were responsible for it. In 1215, 13 copies of the Magna Carta were made and sent out across the country to great cathedrals. One of the copies was originally held at Canterbury Cathedral. Today only four survive; two in the British Library (including the ‘Canterbury’ Magna Carta’, one at Salisbury Cathedral, and one at Lincoln Cathedral. Over 800 years ago, England’s monarch, King John (1199 – 1216), was very unpopular with his barons and the church. He imposed heavy taxation, had disputes with the church, and lost at war with France. Something had to be done to limit the power of authoritarian rule, so that no one was above the law, not even the King. The The two sculptures featured in The Beaney exhibition are from a collection of 15 owned by Canterbury Museums and Galleries. The Canterbury sculptures are electrotypes of 15 of the 18 statues of the barons, which were created for the House of Lords chamber in the new Palace of Westminster during the 1850s. Both sets of statues were manufactured by Elkington and Co of Birmingham. In the 1850s, public access to the Lords Chamber was limited, and the statues were, and still are, situated in niches very high on the walls. In response to the huge public demand to view the 22 statues, the artists' life-sized-scale models were exhibited in the world-famous showroom of Elkington & Co at Newall Street in Birmingham from 1860, where they were seen by tens of thousands of people. The statues were donated to Canterbury Museums in 1906. They have a national artistic significance, being created by nine sculptors chosen through a competition. The sculptures of Stephen Langton and Robert De Fitzwalter will go on permanent display at The Beaney after the Canterbury in the Age of Magna Carta exhibition has concluded. The free exhibition is on display until 6th September 2015 and will focus upon the stories of people who lived in the city during 1215. For more information on Canterbury in the Age of Magna Carta and other commemorative exhibitions and events, please visit www.thebeaney.co.uk.