As many readers know, I love a blue plaque - and Cirencester, where I now live, has dozens of them. Recently, one plaque in particular caught my eye as I ambled about town. It claims that a man who studied here is "credited with saving more lives than any person in history." That’s a bold claim, and I wanted to find out more.
BOOK REVIEWS
‘Geomotional’ is a remarkable and beautifully illustrated exploration of – as the sub-title says – ‘Geometric art, past and present’. The book, which has us journey through images, words, poetry and song, and gives account of a ‘performance-installation’, is compiled by Mary Elizabeth Lange, who is prolific in her writings on Indigenous art and story, and various intersections with heritage.
BLUE PLAQUES
The building was designed in 1934 by Emily & Williamson for an International insurance company which used the “aegis”, the shield of Jupiter (Father of the Roman Gods) and Minerva (Goddess of Wisdom and War.) The storeys rise higher and higher until almost out of sight, and draw the eyes upward to the stepped roof line and the sky, the abode of the Gods.