Parliament's Pictures: an insider's guide to the Parliamentary Art Collection

This talk by Melanie Unwin who is the Deputy Curator of the Westminster Collection gave a real insight into some of the art work kept there.
Particularly fascinating was information about people touching  Winston Churchill's foot for luck, a practice which had to be discouraged because the statue was eroding away.
Here are two portraits Melanie showed us which I particularly liked. Below Tony Blair at the end of his term in office.

 And here is a wonderful portrait of Baroness Amos

Here's a photo of the audience at the talk, and below a copy of Tim Carroll's sketch book from almost the same viewpoint.

It's possible for a member of the public to see the collection by approaching their MP.

To see more, have a look at the website:http://www.parliament.uk/about/art-in-parliament/

Next talk is by Denys Hodson on the 30th April from 2.30-3.30pm