LONDON – The Edwardian Age of Elegance Exhibition, currently on display at Buckingham Palace, is the perfect escape for history lovers.
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With more than 300 fascinating objects on display, you will be emersed into the world of the Belle Epoque, ranging from the marriage of Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, till the end of the First World War.
You will bear witness to the extravagant splendor of late 19th century English society, through countless pieces of silverware and jewelery, and the turbulent change that WWI brought.
Through the many painting on display, you will feel the artistic changes throughout the decades of one of Europe’s most decadent eras, as there are several artists of varying style and nationality.
Above left: Indian artifacts gifted to the future George V during his 1901 tour of the British Empire. Above right: A collection of late Victorian/early Edwardian English silverware. Both images by Manuel Bernardo Tavares Moreira Belo Carmona/YJI.
But a much more personal lens will be open to you into the lives of the Edwardian monarchs as you feast your eyes on the photographs taken by Queen Alexandra herself.
And through the paintings of Danish castles and landscapes she commissioned, it will become evident that even monarchs feel homesick.
However, despite all the sparkle and glamor of the pieces belonging to the English royal family, what captured me the most were the international pieces as they marked the beginning of a globalized world.
There were several beautiful artifacts on display from India, Australia and Egypt and many other countries as a result of the 1901 grand tour of the British Empire taken by the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George V and Queen Mary).
These objects stunned me as they showed that our modern interconnected world took root more than 100 years ago.
Moreover, these non-English pieces expand for me the scope of the exhibition; the Edwardians Age of Elegance was therefore not just an exhibition on the British royal family, but a statement on a global age of bygone beauty.
The exhibit, which opened in April, closes on Nov. 23.
Manuel Bernardo Tavares Moreira Belo Carmona is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
