An exhibition and a concert

To Dulwich Picture Gallery today to see this copy of the Mona Lisa by an unknown artist. Once owned by Reynolds, who thought it was the original, it's particularly interesting because the colours are thought to have lasted better than Leonardo's so it gives us an idea what the original would have looked like some centuries ago.

Also went quickly round the (packed) Canaletto exhibition and was amused to find my workplace depicted in the first two paintings in the show.

I should also say something about Thursday, when seven of us braved the snow to go to a concert by the Schubert Ensemble celebrating Howard Skempton's 60th birthday. It was a very successful event. The programme - Skempton, Mendelssohn and a new piece by David Knotts - fitted together beautifully. Skempton is the master of the (very) miniature, and his new piece, which he described as "something to smile about but unlikely to raise a laugh", seemed to me to have great seriousness and weight despite its 45-second length. And at least two of us determined to buy the music for his piano pieces "Reflections", even if in my case it's wildly optimistic to imagine I might be able to play any of them. A wonderful evening.