30 Beautiful Icons at the Temple Gallery
Exhibition Summer 2026
Now viewing at the Temple Gallery at 6 Clarendon Cross, Holland Park, London, W11 4AP. Weekdays 10 - 5.30, evenings and weekends by arrangement
Travel. Medieval Masterpieces in Scandinavia. Places available
Monumental 16th century icons at the Kode Museum in Bergen.
In the 1920s a number of Scandinavians working in Russia were able to acquire extraordinary 15th and 16th century icons many of which are now in museums in Bergen, Oslo and Stockholm. From 15th to 19th September, we will visit these collections travelling between cities by famous scenic railways. The price for the five-day, four-night Temple Gallery program is GBP 2850 / EUR 3280. For a place, please contact our friend Greg Godar at greg.godar@etrtours.com
To see the itinerary, please click here.
Alain de Lotbiniere
Some of our travel companions will have met Alain de Lotbiniere who, when not working as a neurosurgeon, takes marvellous black and white photographs (The Russian Soul, available at the Temple Gallery.) His account The Silent Centre of Attention describes the mysteries of the operating theatre is published here (Scroll down to the 6th essay.) It is a remarkable read.
Exhibitions
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is preparing a major, large-scale exhibition focused on the Byzantine Empire and its capital, Constantinople, scheduled for Autumn 2026.
The Louvre is establishing its ninth curatorial department, dedicated to Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art, slated to fully open to the public soon. This historic initiative consolidates over 20,000 artworks, previously scattered across multiple departments, to provide a comprehensive look at the region's rich cultural and religious heritage.
Christian Art Conference
The inaugural Christian Art Conference will take place in London on 14 November 2026 at the QEII Centre. It will focus on the intersection of theology, sacred art, and cultural history with speakers such as Rowan Williams and Neil MacGregor.
The conference will be framed around the relationship between 'Beauty, Faith & the Sacred' with keynote lectures, panels, breakout sessions, and accompanying liturgical events including a Mass for Artists at Westminster Cathedral and Evensong at Westminster Abbey.
To find out more, click here.
Shipped of to India
I would like to recommend this attractive well written book about my forebear Sir Richard Temple (1826-1902). It is an excellent book. Really a ‘good read’ in every sense: scholarly, objective, and above all, well-written. The narrative bowls along at exactly the right pace, always carrying the reader along, intrigued to know what happens next. Set within the grand sweep of historical events, we see the social and domestic values of mid-Victorian England translocated into the hurly-burly of tribal India.
It can be purchased here.