Author: johnflanagan

Of the 63 icons in the Blackburn collection., the most common subject is the Mother of God (Virgin and Child), and nearly half are of this subject or some aspect of the life of Christ. The rest almost all show saints and a few prophets. Many of the saints are familiar to us – Michael, George, Nicholas and John the […]

By Mike Millward Early in 2010, Dot and I visited Sydney, New South Wales to stay with our son. Sydney is a wonderful city, full of life and culture, and while there we visited many museums and galleries. One of the exhibitions we saw was in the Mitchell Library, the National Library of New South Wales. As part of its […]

The Russian painter Vladimir Shervud (1833-97), known in England as William Sherwood, came to Blackburn at the invitation of John Charles Dickinson, the son of William Dickinson, a local early 19th century loom manufacturers who played a prominent role in the development of the Lancashire Loom. Sherwood lived at 7 Princes Street, off King Street.