About British culture

*Japanese ver

A week ago I visited London

London is where I used to live, but
this was the first time I truly felt how rich British culture is

Admittedly I'd never had any particular interest in their culture
until this time

"Portrait of Anne Wortley, Later Lady Morton (made in 1620)"

This 400-year-old painting was the one that
opened my eyes to the richness of British culture

Three points;

1 — Fashion
2 — Technique
3 — Condition

1 — Fashion

400 years ago in Japan

It was when
Edo period started
& Tokyo had became the country's central city

And this gorgeous clothing, like the woman is wearing in the painting, would've never existed

But in Britain, it did

2 — Technique

The description said "Oil paint on canvas"

I didn't know oil paintings had already existed 400 years ago

What's more,
the technique had already reached such a level of sophistication in Britain that it enabled them to create this detailed & realistic painting

3 — Condition

Despite 400 years old,
the painting looked new

No cracks on the surface
No fading on the colours

.........I walked closer, very closer, to the painting

And noticed there was no glass in the frame

This 400-year-old painting is displayed without protection
to the public (and for free!)

*Museums are all free in the UK

This was exactly when I felt like
I had glimpsed some kind of "confidence" and "pride", or even "arrogance", that British people must have in their own culture

If it was Japan,
and a painting from 400 years ago were found,

then

people would get so excited or so anxious about its "cultural value", and

highly likely they hide it somewhere with the excuse of "Protecting cultural heritage", and

they never allow the general public to access to the work

But in the UK,
they put it like this without any protection

So nonchalant, as if

"Well, we have an abundance of such things. This is just one of many"

"If something unfortunate happens to this painting, then we'll just replace it with another. That's all"

What arrogance!
What nonchalance!

But through it,
I could see how rich.........in both quality & quantity.........British culture must be