Foundling Museum

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Visit to the Foundling Museum



We went to the Foundling Museum near Russell Square on 17 February. We noted the statue of Thomas Coram – the founder of the Foundling Hospital – an establishment of a ‘Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children’, which was built in 1739.



By showing the National Trust membership cards, we were given the 50%!d(MISSING)iscount on the admission fee.



Including the ground floor, there were four floors to which we could access. We first went to the second floor by lift and looked round the Handel Collection. As well as British painters, German-born composer, George Frideric Handel, made asignificant contribution for the Foundling Hospital in the 18^th century. The Handel Gallery is the tribute to his achievements.



There was a wealth of Handel’s material and documents in the Handel Gallery – music score book of the Foundling Hospital Anthem, music notes of Messiah, which has been carefully preserved by conservators; hand-written wills, harpsichord, and portraits of celebrities: John Christopher Smith, who was secretary for Handel and conducted the annual benefit concert of Messiah in the Foundling Hospital Chapel and John Beard, who was a tenor and actor, and sang in every one of Handel’s oratorios including the first London performance of Messiah.



The Foundling Hospital was a home to deserted children. There were a number of atmospheric paintings which included children, such as The Pinch of Poverty by Thomas Kennington, displayed on the staircase and The Adoration of the Magi, displayed on the landing.



When we arrived at the first floor, we found the family event was taking place at the Picture Gallery; we decided to look round the Court Room first. The Court Room was decorated with stunning rococo interiors and plaster work and beautiful paintings. We admired ornate carvings, reliefs and marble carvings on the wall and doors. We learnt that they all represent charity and philanthropy.

There were eight roundels and four large paintings. We saw the painting of the Foundling Hospital dated 1746, the Charter House dated 1748, and the Bethlenal Hospital dated 1746 on the roundel pictures. As for the large paintings, we found The Finding of the Infant Moses in the Bull Rushes by Francis Hayman and Moses Brought Before Pharaoh’s Daughter by William Hogarth. Those paintings showed benevolence towards children, which was the objective of the Foundling Hospital.



By the time we had finished looking round the Court Room, the family event was finished in the Picture Gallery. There were a number of excellent portraits of celebrities including Thomas Coram, the founder of the Foundling Hospital and Thomas Emerson, the elected Governor of the Hospital. Many artists such as Joshua Reynolds, William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough and Francis Cotes supported the Foundling Hospital. Most of the portraits were of Governors and benefactors. Almost of all the eighteenth-century paintings were in their original frames. We also found a terracotta portrait bust of George Frideric Handel.



We then went down to the ground floor, and looked round the Introductory Gallery and Committee Room. There were a wide variety of documents, pictures and memorabilia displayed in the Introductory Gallery. We saw Thomas Coram’s pocket book showing a list of supporters. In order to set up a Foundling Hospital, he needed a Charter of Incorporation from the King. He made a list of every influential individual and lobbied them one by one and in person. We also found it interesting to see the documents – the weekly diet chart, receipt for the acceptance of a child, identity discs, photos of boys marching and girls studying etc. Foundling Hospital was in operation till 1954. There are still some surviving elderly people who used to be looked after by the carers in the Foundling Hospital – the testimonials and photos were displayed in the Introductory Gallery.



The Committee Room showed us paintings of the daily life in the hospital. There were a number of young children drawn in the paintings, such as the Foundling Restored to its Mother and The Christening, both of which were painted by Emma Brownlow. There was also a famous masterpiece, The March of the Guard to Finchley by William Hogarth.



Finally, we went to the lower ground floor and saw the temporary exhibition: Sir Jacob Epstein Exhibition. There were a wide variety of bronze works, drawing of children and mother, archive photos of Sir Jacob Epstein. He was a pioneer of modern distinguished portrait sculptor. I found some of his sculptors were similar to Henry Moore.



We had lunch at the café next to the visitor reception and shop. I found the messages on the wall paintings interesting – Makoto Kino was orphaned, Momo was orphaned, Mary Lennox was adopted – all of which were illustrating the features of the history of the Foundling Hospital.

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