Art workshop and online talks at Cromwell Museum this week

On Thursday (14th) there’s a chance for families to learn to paint a portrait, based on the historic civil war portraits in the Cromwell Museum’s collection. Will you paint a Royalist or a Parliamentarian?

This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience and will be led by Peterborough artist Tony Nero. It’s free of charge and runs from 11am to 3pm, with no need to book

To tie in with the BBC’s ‘Art That Made Us’ series, the Cromwell Museum is also offering the first of two free online talks relating to the nationally important paintings in its collections. On Monday (18th) at 6.30pm there will be a free online webcast ‘Warts and All: Portraits of Cromwell’, looking at these iconic paintings with the museum’s curator. Cromwell is one of the most significant, controversial, and well-known figures in British history, with portraits of him rendered by some of the best known and most skilled artists of the mid-1600s... but what do his portraits really tell us about him?

Places for this talk can be booked online at www.cromwellmuseum.org.

There’s also a last opportunity to explore the development of the navy in the 1600s and the role of 3 men from Huntingdon in its development with the ‘Cromwell’s Navy’ exhibit which runs until April 23. Amongst the exhibits are remarkable artefacts recently recovered from the wreck of the ‘London’, one of Cromwell’s ships which sank off Southend and is being excavated in a feat of nautical archaeology akin to that of the ‘Mary Rose’. Another is a huge scale model of the warship ‘Naseby’, recently acquired by the Cromwell Museum after being donated by the family of a professional prop maker.

Stuart Orme, Curator of the Cromwell Museum says: “With the school holidays in full swing, we know that lots of families are looking for things to do. This is a great chance for visitors to find out more about some of these astonishing objects – or simply have a go at some fun activities!”

Situated in the heart of Huntingdon, just off the High Street, the Cromwell Museum holds the best collection of objects relating to the life and times of Oliver Cromwell on public display in the world.

The collection comprises nearly 700 items, including portraits, clothing, miniatures, arms and armour, historical documents written by or about Cromwell, and one of his death masks.

For more details on these activities and Easter opening times visit www.cromwellmuseum.org.