Vellum as a microcosm of human life? Following some recent experiments with painting on skin and having researched some handling advice for the framer, this little speech delivered by King John at the Globe Theatre performance of the eponymous play yesterday made me sit up:

I am a scribbled form, drawn with a pen
Upon a parchment, and against this fire
Do I shrink up.

Parchment and vellum are very sensitive to heat - they shrivel if they're hotpressed or left on the desk where the sun shines in the morning. Now we have it in Shakespeare's immortal iambs.  It's one of the better lines in the play: the cast did manfully but there's a good reason why it doesn't often get an outing....

It is time I advertised this exhibition so that everyone can get the date into their diaries. This is an opportunity to see (and buy!) icons of many different styles - Byzantine, Russian, Coptic, Italianate: mainly panel paintings but past exhibitions have included bronzes, embroidery, marouflage and mosaic. There are lectures, events and services planned during the week, full details on the BAI website here (scroll down to E-bulletin no 10). St Saviour's is a fine Gothic Revival pile, and practically next door to Pimlico tube station. Handy for Tate Britain too, if you want to get full value from a train fare to London!