In March 2019, Pupils from Willows High School took part in a Leonardo-inspired project with National Museum Cardiff, University of South Wales and Cardiff University School of Biosciences.

Pupils started by exploring Anatomy with Dr Shiby Stephens, Clinical Anatomist at Cardiff University. They looked at how medical advances in exploring anatomy were rooted in Leonardo’s accuracy and precision in drawing anatomy.

Pupils were then given the opportunity to visit the Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing exhibition. They looked closely, explored drawing techniques and drew from observations. https://museum.wales/cardiff/whatson/10265/Leonardo-da-Vinci-A-Life-in-Drawing/

Finally the pupils worked closely with Gina Carpenter, Visual Art Tutor at University South Wales, to create their own accurate anatomical drawings. They applied drawing techniques like hatching, making 3D forms, and body proportion. They explored da Vinci inventions, and were introduced to the Game Design process. Pupils then storyboarded their own game design using their Leonardo-inspired anatomy and invention drawings.

Funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Our main job as Explore Volunteers is engaging with visitors in the galleries. At National Museum Cardiff we primarily use three carts; one for natural science, one for evolution, and one for art. The art cart is a particularly fun experience, as it’s more about encouraging visitors to share their own impressions and experiences of art. This cart contains several interesting things, and one in particular is our range of colour filters. 

It seems simple enough at first glance; five transparent filters of different colours. However, when applied to the paintings in our galleries they offer entirely new perspectives on each one. Since a single painting often contains more of a particular colour, viewing it through different filters will produce different results. If you view a painting through a filter of its dominant colour, the effect produced is much more dramatic. Through this visitors can get new insight on how artists constructed their best works.

My go to example for visitors is always Monet’s San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight in Gallery 16. Viewed without the filters the painting is dramatic enough. On closer inspection you can see that Monet used a strong under-layer of purple for the monastery, with small flecks of purple in the water around it. When viewed through the purple filter, the painting takes on a completely different dynamic. Not only is the monastery more pronounced and the sunset more dramatic, it looks like the cover of a psychedelic rock album. On the other hand, when viewed through the red or orange filters, the already fiery sunset becomes more pronounced. I’ve seen many visitors young and old amazed and impressed after viewing this painting through the filters. 

The filters will affect different paintings in different ways. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s La Parisienne (also known as The Blue Lady) is a classic case in point. Since the subject, Henriette Henriot, is dressed entirely in blue, when viewed under the blue filter the colour is amplified. However the other filters can produce interesting results. The area of shading around Henriette is somewhat grey, with elements of blue and yellow, so when viewed under the yellow filter it produces a greenish effect. This happens not just in the outline around Henriette, it also blurs her face, making it appear hazier. The yellow filter also makes the golden frame around the painting a lot brighter. Since The Blue Lady is without a doubt one of the most popular paintings in the museum, it’s good to have visitors looking at her from a different perspective.

A similar effect happens with our other famous resident of Gallery 16, Landscape at Auvers in the Rain by Vincent van Gogh. In speaking to visitors it seems that when viewing the painting they don’t often notice the rain at first. The dashes crisscrossing the canvas are long, thin and faint compared to the landscape behind it. Looking at these lines through a blue filter makes the scene feel more like a rainy day, but when viewed under the yellow filter the lines suddenly become more pronounced. The rain appears to be falling faster when viewed under this filter, with the field in the foreground becoming more pronounced. Many visitors I’ve demonstrated this to have been amazed by the effect.

The filters are a great way for Explore Volunteers to interact with visitors. Not only does it encourage visitors to share their impressions of art, it also allows them to see art in a new way and spot things that may escape them at first glance. There are still many paintings I haven’t tested the filters on yet, so watch this space for more forays in filtering in the near future.

Patterns are such a large part of our day-to-day culture that they can often go unnoticed. They are on the clothes we wear and the furnishings we buy for our homes and offices. The majority have no purpose other than decoration. Many of the patterns seen within our Collections however, are more than simple decoration. They were created to protect the home and its occupants from bad luck brought about by witches, curses and evil spirits. In this series of blogs, we will take a closer look at the purposeful patterns and meaningful marks seen here at St Fagans.

Carpenter’s marks can be seen chiselled into our timber-framed buildings such as Stryd Lydan barn. The frames of timber buildings were created in the carpenter’s yard and then pulled apart for transportation: these marks allow each element of the prefabricated frame to be confidently re-assembled at the build-site.

Atropaic marks (from the Greek word for ‘to ward off’ or ‘turn away’) can take many forms – burn marks on wooden beams, or engravings such as hashed lines and crosses on masonry, flowers drawn with a compass, serpentine lines, squares of alternating colours, or double ‘V’s. They were typically added to homes and agricultural buildings between 1600 and 1950. They were most commonly applied at ‘weak points’ where bad influences could enter homes with ease – doorways, windows and fireplaces.

Entoptic marks (‘things seen within the eye’) are geometric designs that form part of the earliest recorded art in the world. Our Gweithdy gallery contains a wealth of artefacts decorated with these designs. The 6,000 year old wooden beam from Maerdy and the carved stone from Barclodiad y Gawres both feature a serpentine trail. The 3000 year old clay pots known as beakers are decorated with striking alternating geometric designs. The Roman mosaic from Caerwent is composed of a central serpentine knot surrounded by alternating black and white triangles. Likewise, early Christian crosses are carved with interlaced knotwork. These patterns share many elements with the later atropaic marks and could represent the origin of that tradition. For instance, during the 19^th and 20^th centuries it was common to believe that a pattern drawn with a single unbroken line could fascinate and entrap evil spirits.

The next time you walk past a typical Victorian house, take a moment to consider the path of alternating coloured tiles leading to the doorway. Or when you go to bed, ask yourself why is it that Welsh blankets are so ‘loud’ when you’re trying to get to sleep?  Maybe these too are part of the same tradition of drawing patterns with a purpose.

Ar y cyntaf o Fai, dethlir Calan Mai.  Mae'r ŵyl yn nodi dechrau’r haf a chyfnod o ffrwythlondeb a thwf.  Mae toreth o draddodiadau yn gysylltiedig â’r ŵyl – rhai yn fwy rhyfedd na’i gilydd!  Dyma ddetholiad o ambell i arfer sydd ar gof a chadw yn Archifau AWC.

Canu am Gildwrn yn Nhreuddyn

Yn ardal Treuddyn, ar ddiwrnod Calan Mai, byddai plant yn gwisgo dillad llaes a mynd o ddrws i ddrws yn canu cân a chario cangen wedi ei hardduno â charpiau yn y gobaith o dderbyn ychydig o gildwrn neu rodd fechan gan berchennog y tŷ.  Dyma eiriau Alun J. Ingman, a anwyd yn Nhreuddyn yn 1906:

Ar ddydd Calan Mai, byddai rhai wedi paentio’u hwynebau ac yn gwisgo rhyw hen sgert a dillad llaes a mi oedd ganddyn nhw gangen, a charpiau arni hi, a mynd o ddrws i ddrws. Mi fydde ’na gân debyg i hyn: “Dawns sy’n sa’, y gangen ha’, am mor fychlawn neidio. Neidia di i ben y tŷ a mi neidia inna troso’”. Fydde hynny, a cildwrn, tipyn o gocos, yn rhwbath yn debyg i Calennig ond ar ddydd Calan Mai.

Derbyn Menyn yng Ngogledd Penfro

Yng Ngogledd Penfro, arferai gwragedd a phlant deithio o amgylch ffermdai yr ardal yn derbyn talpau o fenyn yn eu basynau.  Golygai hyn y byddai ganddynt ddigon o fenyn i roi ar eu bara am wythnosau i ddod.

Penglog Ceffyl i’r Ferch a’ch Digiodd

Yng Ngogledd Cymru, byddai gwŷr ifanc yn cael gafael ar benglog ceffyl ar noswyl Calan Mai ac yn ei hongian uwchben drws morwyn neu ddrws gwraig briod a oedd wedi eu digio. Yn aml, byddai enw’r ferch anffodus wedi ei glymu i’r penglog.

Colli Gwaed ar Galan Mai

Mae Mary Davies a anwyd yn Nantyfedwen, Trefeglwys, yn 1892, yn cofio y byddai ei Nain yn mynd pob blwyddyn i gael colli tipyn bach o waed adeg Calan Mai:

Glywos i’n nhad yn dweud ei fod yn gwybod am rywun oedd yn mynd i ryw gors, ac roedd y gelod yn cydiad yn y gors, ac roedd e’n eu gwerthu nhw i’r cemist.  Fydda’r cemist yn gwerthu nhw i fobol i dynnu gwaed.  Bydda’r gelod yn cael eu defnyddio yn reit ddiweddar yn bydda nhw.  Bydda Nain, mam ’y nhad, yn mynd pob blwyddyn i golli tipyn bach o waed.  O, odd hi’n well o lawer iawn wedyn odd hi’n meddwl.

Gofyn Bendith ar Amaethwyr

Ar y dydd hwn yn ardal Llangristiolus, cynhelid gwasanaeth yn y capel i ofyn bendith Duw ar ffermwyr yr ardal.

Rhwystro’r Wrach Rhag Hudo

Ar fore Calan Mai yn Llanwennog, byddai’n arfer addurno pen y drws blaen â dail gwyrdd er mwyn atal y “witsh” rhag dod i’r tŷ a'i hatal rhag rhoi hud ar y cartref fel na allai’r teulu gorddi trwy gydol yr haf.

Godro Defaid

Arferid godro defaid yn ystod yr wythnos gyntaf ar ôl ffair Galan Mai Llanfair-ym-Muallt ac yna eu gadael yn hesb nes fis Hydref.

“Cadw Gofid Mâs o’r Tŷ”

Yn ardal Cydweli, byddai rhai yn addurno y drws blaen gyda changhennau coed ynn er mwyn “cadw gofid mâs o’r tŷ” ac i atal gwrachod ac ysbrydion, a oedd yn arbennig o ddrygionus ar ddechrau Mai yn ôl y sôn, rhag chwarae triciau ar y trigolion.

Ffeiriau Cyflogi

Cynhelid ffeiriau cyflogi mewn llawer tref yng Nghymru ar ddiwrnod Calan Mai. Byddai gweision a morwynion yn cael eu cyflogi am flwyddyn ac yna’n dychwelyd i’r ffair mewn deuddeng mis neu symud i ardal arall er mwyn ceisio gwell cyflog.  Dyma eiriau Rhys Morgan, a anwyd yn 1875 yng Nghorneli Waelod, ger Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr:

Odd May Day pryd ’ny. Dydd Cala-Ma’. A dyna’r dydd on nhw’n ych dewis chi. Os och chi’n moin jobyn, och chi’n gofyn i’r fferm a on nhw’n setlo ar arian.  Odd pob un yn Ben-bont, odd gweision ffermydd a lot o’r ffermwyr hefyd 'ny. Bydde chi’n clywed “Ma ishe gwas yn New Park, ma ishe gwas yn y Grove”.  Wel nawr, och chi nawr yn mynd i edrych, bydde’r ffarmwr ddim yn dod atoch chi.    Pedwar ucen mlynedd yn ôl - dydd mawr.  Sdim sôn amdano fe nawr.      

Continuing the international year of the periodic table of chemical elements, for April we have selected Calcium. Known by most as the fundamental element in bone-forming or limestone, it has a host of other applications and is present in seabeds and marine life past and present.

Calcium (Ca) is a light-coloured metallic element with an atomic number of 20.  It is crucial for life today and commonly forms a supporting role in plants and animals. The 5^th most common element in the earth’s crust, calcium forms many useful rocks and minerals such as limestone, aragonite, gypsum, dolomite, marble and chalk.

Aragonite and Calcite, the two most commonly crystalised forms of calcium carbonate, helped form the 2 million shells in our mollusc collection, the core of which is the Melvill-Tomlin collection, donated to the museum in the 1950s. An international collection it contains many rare, beautiful and scientifically important specimens and is utilised by worldwide scientists for their research. Pearls, also made of aragonite and calcite, are produced by bivalves such as oysters, freshwater mussels and even giant clams. In nature pearls are the result of the molluscs’ reaction against a parasitic intruder or a piece of grit. The mantle around the soft bodied animal secretes calcium carbonate and conchiolin that surrounds the invading body and imitates its shape so they are not all perfectly spherical. In the pearl industry the oyster or mussel is ‘seeded’ with a tiny orbs of shell to ensure that the resulted pearl is totally spherical.

Mollusc shells are created as protective shields by their soft-bodied owners and this is true of other invertebrates, especially in the world’s oceans. Coral reefs and some marine bristle worm tubes (Serpulidae, Spirorbinae) rely on the reinforcing nature of calcium carbonate to provide support and protection to their soft bodies. Crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters have a hard exoskeleton strengthened with both calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate. Calcium required after moulting in lobsters, crawfish, crayfish and some land crabs is provided by gastroliths (sometimes referred to as gizzard stones, stomach stones or crab’s eyes). They are found on either side of the stomach and provide calcium for essential parts of the cuticle such as mouthparts and legs. The museum’s collections holds nearly 750,000 marine invertebrates, including crustaceans, corals and bristleworms.

Many of the 700,000 fossils in the Museum’s collections are also made of calcium minerals.  Invertebrates use two main forms of calcium carbonate to make their shells and exoskeletons, and the one they use influences how likely they are to be immortalised as fossils.  Aragonite, found in the shells of molluscs such as ammonites, gastropods and bivalves, is unstable and doesn’t usually survive for millions of years.  During fossilisation, aragonite shells either dissolve away completely, or the aragonite recrystallizes to form calcite.  Calcite was used to make the shells and skeletons of extinct groups of corals, articulate brachiopods, bryozoans, echinoderms and most trilobites.  It is much more stable than aragonite, so the original hard parts of these creatures are commonly found as fossils, millions of years after they sank to the sea floor.  Large calcite crystals are often found filling spaces in fossils, such as the chambers inside ammonite shells.  Vertebrates use a different calcium mineral to make their bones and teeth: apatite (calcium phosphate), which can survive for millions of years to make iconic fossils such as dinosaur skeletons and mammoth tusks.

The Museum’s rock collections contain many limestones, rocks formed at the bottom of ancient seas from bits of shells and other calcium carbonate-rich remains.  For millenia, people have used limestones as a construction material: from carved stone in the iconic Greek and Roman temples; broken fragments as ballast in the base layer of railways and roads; or burnt to form lime in the manufacturing of cement.  National Museum Cardiff and other iconic buildings in Cardiff Civic Centre were built from a famous Dorset limestone called Portland Stone.  The Museum’s floor is tiled with marble, limestone that has been transformed (‘metamorphosed’) under great heat and pressure.  Marble has long been prized by sculptors, since the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Museum’s art collections include works in this material by Auguste Rodin, John Gibson, Sir Francis Chantrey, Sir William Goscombe John, and many others. There are also important examples of work by twentieth-century sculptors, such as Jacob Epstein, Eric Gill and Henri Gaudier-Breszka. They preferred carving the softer texture and density of the softer limestone, Portland Stone and sandstone.