 |
| The Picture Gallery, RHUL |
Royal Holloway, University of London is well known for it's ghost stories. In fact, every halloween you can sign up for Ghost Tours around the campus and discover the unknown horrors of this ancient university. The most famous, and recently reported by
BBC, is the polar bear painting in the prestigious Picture Gallery within the Founders Building. Thomas Holloway, the founder of Royal Holloway, purchased the painting 'Man Proposes, God Disposes' along with a huge collection of rare artworks. However, this painting is what every student is most excited about whenever exams are approaching.
 |
| 'Man Proposes, God Disposes' |
'Man Proposes, God Disposes' depicts two polar bears eating from an abandoned ship, with what seems like blood stains in several sections of the painting. Every year, exams take place in the picture gallery, but only this one painting is covered up by a Union Jack flag. The myth I heard was that a girl who was sat next to this painting in her exam went crazy, stabbed herself in the eye, and wrote on her exam paper: 'The polar bears made me do it'. However, to this day, I'm still not sure what the underlying reason are, although BBC appears to have an answer to this in their article. Nonetheless, the reason behind why this painting causes such an effect is unclear.
Personally, walking into the Picture Gallery for an exam wasn't too bad, the Union Jack flag does catch your attention immediately but usually you just concentrate on the questions. Having said that, I'm glad I wasn't sat right next to the Union Jack flag though. Other stories I have heard included a ghost of a little boy running down the hallways in Founders. To be perfectly honest, having been a Founders Hall alumni, I would not like to be walking down the hallways alone past midnight again! In fact I used to sprint to the bathrooms and back if ever needed!
The Picture Gallery is open to visitors, details are
Here!
Tiny
No comments:
Post a Comment