Forget Ancient Rome, often cited as the origin of circus entertainment. A certain Englishman, Philip Astley (1742 – 1814), who had been a sergeant major in the Cavalry, was responsible for the entertainment we know today. It was Astley who found that if he galloped in circles he could produce such a centrifugal force that it enabled him to perform extraordinary stunts upon the horse and thus outdo other trick riders of the day.
Astley performed in public for the first time on 9th January, 1768. He was so successful that he gathered other equestrians to him and, later, acrobats, musicians, tumblers, clowns, tightrope walkers and so forth. Ultimately, he covered the land on which he had formed his ‘ring’ in an area of London’s Waterloo to create Astley’s Amphitheatre. Circus was born, although the term would not be used until Charles Dibdin, in partnership with Charles Hughes, created the Royal Circus nearby in 1782. Astley went on to establish circuses throughout Britain and the rest of Europe.
To create Interval at the Circus, I found a vintage black and white image from DeviantArt to which I applied textures before painting various areas. I also added a couple of circus elements from The Graphics Fairy to the outdoor panels, one pane of the window above the door, and the ground beneath their feet.
“Damn everything but the circus!. . .The average ‘painter’ ‘sculptor’ ‘poet’ ‘composer’ ‘playwright’ is a person who cannot leap through a hoop from the back of a galloping horse, make people laugh with a clown’s mouth, orchestrate twenty lions.”
― E.E. Cummings
“The circus is a jealous wench. Indeed that is an understatement. She is a ravening hag who sucks your vitality as a vampire drinks blood – who kills the brightest stars in her crown and will allow no private life for those who serve her; wrecking their homes, ruining their bodies, and destroying the happiness of their loved ones by her insatiable demands. She is all of these things, and yet, I love her as I love nothing else on earth.”
― Henry Ringling North, The Circus Kings: Our Ringling Family Story
Related articles
Take care and keep laughing!
Reblogged this on sara33ia.
LikeLike
I love this one. In particular I like the circus ticket as the ground. The colours and textures you have used are brilliant.
LikeLike
Ooh, thank you – you’ve delighted me!
LikeLike
love your work…but, love the little antidotes you tell us too!
LikeLike
Thank you, Marilyn. (I assume you mean anecdotes!)
LikeLike
oh yes…me and my vocabulary!
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
Great image, Puffin. I love the colours. How fascinating that his first circus was at Waterloo. I liked the part about the centrifugal force and the horse galloping. from his picture he looks like quite a prosperous chap….
LikeLike
Thanks, Puffin!
LikeLike
Amazing and really interesting. What you can learn on a Sunday morning by reading the Blogs you enjoy !
LikeLike
I know! I feel I should have known it all before but I didn’t until I did my research.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on rebloggobbler.
LikeLiked by 1 person
such a delightful blog Sarah, sorry I need to get here more…
sherri
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’ve delighted me, Sherri. I certainly try to make it as interesting and enjoyable as possible. Incidentally, I followed your link to Cee’s Challenge and am going to try and take part…that’s if nothing gets in my way! I do hope your daughter is doing better and better. Thank you for stopping by.
LikeLike