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04/13/2006: "A bit of culture that doesn't cost"

Took the mini-Woodfords to a free workshop at the National Gallery, where they got a bit of book learning about art and the chance to have a go themselves in a first-class facility with paint, rollers, sponges, aprons and lots of other messy kind of stuff.

There was quite an adventurous session in the main gallery, where a museum guide and artist sat about 35 kids down in front of Il Tramonto, a picture by Giorgione, dating from the early sixteenth century. It wouldn't have been my first choice for accessibility, considering there's Monet and Van Gogh tucked away a few doors down, but there were a lot of bright children there and they definitely seemed to get something out of it.

A highlight was the guide asking the assembled youngsters why Saint Roch - one of the classical figures depicted - might have been travelling from Montpelier in France to Rome on foot. The correct answer (to see the Pope) took a fair bit of prompting. Initial suggestions were that it could have been part of a medieval fitness drive.


Artist Thomas Gosebruch demonstrates stencil and printmaking techniques during a free workshop at London's National Gallery.