READING about the revamp of the Jorvik Viking Museum (Weekender, January 27) reminded me of an old artistic tradition. Often a painter would depict his own likeness on the canvas, perhaps as a distant figure lurking in a crowd scene. There is a lovely example in the Railway Museum.
Alfred Hitchcock continued this tradition in his films by sneaking into his own creations. Most visitors to the Jorvik museum would look around as their time car entered one house, and perhaps take a passing glance at the white-bearded old man, in a drunken stupor by the fireside.
Yes, true to form it was the sculptor of the original Jorvik residents, who had depicted himself as one of the villagers.
As the new animatronic figures move into Jorvik it will be interesting to learn whether the previous sculptor will be able to rescue his image for posterity.
Paul Hepworth,
Windmill Rise,
Holgate, York.
Updated: 14:40 Wednesday, January 31, 2001
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