Continuing the cultural exchange
between BRIDFAS and the Bronte Group, on 9 May several Bronte members made the
trip to Woluwe St Lambert to hear the lecture given by Elizabeth Merry, BA, MA
on The Young Brontes and Art.
Elizabeth has lectured on the
Brontes for many years, but this was her first lecture in Brussels. She gave an
informative and fascinating description of the artistic accomplishments of the
talented Bronte children.
Through a series of slides Elizabeth
showed us how the children copied from the artwork that surrounded them on the
walls of the parsonage. These were mainly apocalyptic scenes of Biblical events,
but they also had access to a variety of books, and illustrated magazines and
journals of the day. The children copied from these sources and Elizabeth
explored how they influenced the Brontes’ creativity in their story writing, and
how they adapted their copies to illustrate the characters and landscapes that
populated their complex imaginary worlds of Gondal and Angria.
All the Bronte members immensely
enjoyed Elizabeth’s talk and we hope that she will return to Brussels to talk to
our group at a future date.
Finally, our thanks to Paula Cagli,
BRIDFAS chair, for organising the event and making us very welcome.
Sharon Rowles
