Beautiful Madeira Islands near Portugal

Madeira (under blue spot), Portugal and Morocco

Wiki

Madeira’s written history started in 1418. It was then the navigators led by João Gonçalves Zarco sighted, after days afloat on the high seas, a small island that saved them from tragedy, a safe harbour they named Porto Santo Island. Next year, 1419, they reached Madeira Island.

Navigators Tristão Vaz Teixeira, Bartolomeu Perestrelo & João Gonçalves Zarco became the first settlers. Portuguese King John I (1357–1433) ordered the colonisation process in 1425 with people of modest means, ex-prisoners of Portugal and some lower nobility. Other settlers were peasant farmers and fishermen hoping for better prospects after the bubonic plagues ravaging Europe. To develop agriculture, settlers cleared parts of the dense forest with long lasting fires.

King John I statue in Lisbon

Wiki

Madeira's settlement history depended on its clear potential. The islands were in a perfect geographical location, quickly making it an international point of connection, with fertile volcanic soils & subtropical climate mild all year round. In the colonisation process, some crops were introduced that became central to Madeira's history. Sugar cane brought great economic prosperity to the region. Madeira began planting sugarcane, at the time a rare spice, in c1450 and quickly became a large exporter of sugarcane and a popular sugar stop for European traders. From C16th on, the islands were established as one of the most famous sugar producers in the world: White Gold. The use of slave labour in sugar cultivation was launched on a small production model in Madeira in 1452, the earliest place to use slave labour for sugar. This was due to its proximity to Africa’s coast, 400 km to the Canary Islands and c520 km to Morocco; but c1000 km from Portugal!

The cultivation of sugarcane continued until most production moved to Brasil. Then fishing & vegetables were the main products for Madeirans. But in order to develop Madeira's agriculture, it was essential to thin out the dense forest and to build many levadas-aqueducts. They brought water from the island’s wet north to the dry parts in the south. Today there are 2,170 km+ of levadas still used for water transport, hydroelectric power & popular walking trails with great views. Already in 17th & C18ths, Madeira's history was marked by a new culture that boosted the economy.

Madeira was marginally involved in both world wars. There were a handful of German attacks in WW1, during which Germany declared war on Portugal on Mar 1916. In WW2, Portugal was neutral but did agree to take in Gibraltarian humanitarian refugees, until the war’s end.

Madeira gained political autonomy in 1976 after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, when a military coup ended Portugal’s endless dictatorship. Today Madeira’s population = c256,000 people, the majority of whom live on Madeira island and 5,000 people living on Porto Santo island. Of those on Madeira, almost half (105,795) live in the capital, Funchal. The population is almost entirely Catholic (96%) and tourism makes up c30% of the Madeiran GDP.

Old Town Funchal

 

With 600+ years of history, this Atlantic archipelago protects a vast collection of monuments, churches, museums and other cultural spaces. Madeira's heritage stands out for its undeniable historical relevance. Walking in the streets of Madeira's towns and cities means enjoying direct contact with that heritage. It is a journey into the past through different architectural styles, historic spaces or artworks from the eras. Among Madeira's heritage, see King Manuel I late Gothic relics, military or modern architecture. And valuable paintings, photos, sculptures, jewellery, furniture and porcelain found in the chapels, churches, cathedrals, forts, palaces, old estates, museums or cultural centres.

The capital city, Funchal, is central to Madeira's cultural heritage. Wander down the streets of this European city to enjoy its rich heritage eg art pieces from 7 museums. These artefacts were chosen for their history and their relationship with Madeira. All the museums are ideal for exploring the archipelago's history, identity and traditions but also for discovering the region's natural wealth. 

Madeira Island vineyards

Museum of Wine and Vine, tasting room

The special wine produced is globally acclaimed still, and although Madeira is mostly made with red grapes, white grapes are also common. Since C17th, Madeira’s main export has been wine, used in many traditional Portuguese dishes. In Santana municipality on Madeira’s north coast, the Museum of Wine and Vine is housed in an old restored cellar, examining wine’s complex production process. Three wine presses have been restored in the cellar, offering visitors the chance to inspect these traditional spaces and utensils used in viticulture. Additionally the Museum also has an explanatory section on the cycles of the vine. Note the Museum includes a shop for buying traditional products!

The Solar do Aposento is a traditional, wealthy house preserved in the Madeiran architectural tradition. Built mid C18th in Ponta Delgada, this agricultural property’s building came with out-buildings; the ground floor was occupied by wine stores, next to a wine press. So visiting Solar do Aposento means witnessing island life in 18th & C19ths.  Recently the site gained a small chapel and extensions near the kitchen. The interior explores various decorative styles. Most of the furniture are of C19th Madeiran origin, with pieces in mahogany and chestnut wood, like contemporary English furniture. And also Portuguese furniture from the late 18th and C19ths. And see important paintings and sculptures eg the C17th oil painting of Our Lady with Child and a polychrome, gilded upholstered wooden sculpture of St Anthony (mid-C17th). Also see a carved and gilded wooden mirror from Queen Donna Maria I (1734–1816).

Funchal family houses and beach rental houses

The Madeira Story Centre explains the archipelago’s rich history. Situated near the cable car station in central Funchal, the Centre teaches via an exhibition of authentic historical objects and interactive multi-media equipment. The Museum’s halls are organised in themes: Volcanic Origins; Legends of Discovery; Discovery of Madeira; Turmoil and Trade; Strategic Island; Madeira Development; After Navigation; and Exploring Madeira. From volcanic genesis to pirate attacks, going through the Centre suits the entire family. See the panoramic terrace, to scan Funchal city and to taste the local cuisine.

The paradisal nature of the two Atlantic islands became famous around the world. Some of the European aristocracy, attracted by the therapeutic properties of this Eden, began to take up temporary residence here. Madeira flourished with tourism, and still does today. 

Durand-Ruel, Impressionist art, Geelong

Paul Durand-Ruel (1831-1922) was an art-dealer of belief; when the young Impressionists were ridiculed by French dealers, he bought their work and nurtured their cause, slowly influencing public taste in Europe. In 1865 he opened his first gallery in Paris. This dealer shaped the art market by discovering artists who later became global favourites.

Paul Durand-Ruel in his gallery, c1910

erinhanson.com

In the Franco-Prussian War 1870, Durand-Ruel packed his stock and left Paris for London. An artist there advised him to check out the work of two chaps named Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. She said: this artist, Claude Monet, will surpass us all. Pissarro heard about the Monets Durand-Ruel bought, and not wanting to miss out, Pissarro left his paintings at the gallery. Durand-Ruel wrote to him saying “I am so sorry I missed you. I am delighted with the paintings you left. Could you name a price and bring me others?”

In late 1871 Durand-Ruel returned to Paris to meet Degas & Auguste Renoir, and started buying ALL the works in their studios. Buying so much so early was unusual. Other dealers would buy 10 works, wait for them to sell and then came back to buy more. But although it allowed him to corner the market, it was a risky gamble to invest his resources in an unloved art movement. It actually took 10-20 years to sell some of the paintings. There was no ready audience eg for Monet’s misty London’s Green Park, Manet’s battle between ships in America’s Civil War and Degas’ pale ballerinas.

Before he met Durand-Ruel, Monet had been so poor he tried to drown himself in the Seine. Monet and his painter friends had slaved away in poverty for years. Their abstractions of colour & light had met only ridicule from Paris’ experts. Durand-Ruel bought Renoir’s Boating Party Luncheon in 1882 and Monet’s Stacks of Wheat in 1891, 100+ works in Musee d’Orsay Paris’ collection and 100 paintings in Dr Albert Barnes’ Foundation Phil. Durand-Ruel bought c200 Manets, 1,000+ Monets, 1,500 Renoirs, 800 Pissarros, 400 Alfred Sisleys, 400 Mary Cassatts: c5,000 Impressionist works!

In 1876 he filled 3 rooms of his Le Peletier Gallery for a 2nd Impressionist show, but French critics were vicious. Durand-Ruel stayed loyal to his artists, giving them one-man shows and supporting them when they needed stipends & loans. When Monet bought his Giverny property, he bought it with advance monies from art he would present at Durand-Ruel’s gallery. Sadly Durand-Ruel did go broke and artists were anxious about their careers. Monet, painting on the Norman coast, wanted to destroy his canvases so Durand-Ruel wrote: Please don’t do that! I’ll send you money. Just send me the canvases in return.

In 1862 art student Ren­oir met Jean Frédéric Baz­ille, Mon­et and Sisley at Charles Gleyre's Paris stu­d­io, then met Edgar De­gas, Pissar­ro, Paul Cezanne and Edouard Manet via these contacts. These men socialis­ed in coffee shops and slowly created a theory base for their Impressionist style. Renoir also met Paul Durand-Ruel, in this time. At this happy meeting, Durant-Ruel agreed to be Ren­oir's agent and Renoir remained the favourite artist.

Monet, Haystacks Midday 1890

Geelong Gallery

Pissarro wrote the group's written manifesto and was the only artist to participate in all 8 Impressionist shows. At the 1st exhibition in 1874, there were 30 artists. Pissarro showed 5 of his paintings, out of the 135 on display. Even when Pissarro's work was finally beginning to attract buyers, a dealer’s support was always critical. His paintings were some of the first Impressionist works purchased by Durand-Ruel.

By 1876, Salon jurors clearly disliked Impressionist art and would not accommodate their paintings. So the young artists decided to get back together and rethink their plan. Monet, Renoir, Degas, Berthe Morisot, Sisley and Pissarro remained at the core. And then Jean-Baptiste Millet, (Jean-François Millet's brother, joined in. Gustave Caillebotte, who started out as a collector, ended up half funding the project. They opened in Ap 1876 and took 3 rooms in the Durand-Ruel Gallery on rue le Peletier, off of the Blvd Haussman. The number of paintings on display rose to 252, but the number of artists declined to 19. The critics were rude. Again! 

By the 3rd exhibition, cashed-up artist Caillebotte fully funded & organised the project, so planning began in his Rue Miromesnil home. Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Degas were as usual the steering commit­tee. Manet may have been in attendance too. But it was Caillebotte who risked not making a profit until money from exhibition sales arrived. They rented a spacious apartment at 6 rue Le Peletier, not far from the 2nd exhibition at Durand-Ruel Gallery, a year after the 1876 exhibition: Ap 1877. The number of works remained the same but only 18 artists participated.

But what a risk-taker he was. For 20 years 1871-90, Durand-Ruel spent hundreds of thousands of francs on pictures by the unknown and unloved Impressionists. Even after he spent millions on 12,000 paintings, incl 1,000 Monets, 1,500 Renoirs, 800 Pissarros, 400 each by Degas & Sisley, 200 Manets & 400 Cassatts. Durand-Ruel made and lost fortunes!

The other Impressionists were not pleased when Renoir went to the Dark Side i.e the Official Salon, but they were thrilled when Renoir returned to the Impressionist Exhib­itions in the 1880s. He submitted 25 of his paintings to the 7th Impress­ionist exhibition in 1882 in the Durand-Ruel gal­l­­ery. The next year, Durand-Ruel gave Renoir his first maj­or one-man show, showing 70 works! Once Durand-Ruel bought Renoir’s The Umbrellas and sold it to a collector, Renoir started to enjoy the pat­ron­age of weal­thy collectors and dealers.

There were other progressive, risk-taking art agents working in Paris in late C19th-early 20th. Amboise Vollard (1867-1939) was a fine art-dealer in the late C19th and when he exhibited the Impressionists’ art, he raised the rep­utation of individual artists and Impressionism in general. Berthe Weill (1865–1951) and Paul Guill­aume (1891-1934) were other key French art-dealers. But the rest of the Paris-based dealers seemed to be German-raised and educated: Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1884-1979), who dealt mainly in Post-Impressionism; Leonce(1879-1947) and brother Paul Rosenberg (1881-1959); Gaston and Jos Bernhein-Jeune’s father was a German art-dealer; and art-dealer/publisher Paul Cassirer who opened his Berlin art gallery in 1898 to specialise in French impressionist art.

Geelong Gallery

Georges d’Espagnat, Autumn afternoon,1899

Geelong Gallery catalogue

UK’s first major show honouring Durand-Ruel was in National Gallery London 2015. Inventing Impressionism included c85 works, among them some of Impressionism’s greatest master-pieces which had never seen in the UK. Most of the works had been dealt by Durand-Ruel, borrowed from the key European and American collections he helped form.

Geelong is the second biggest city in Victoria. In its 130th year, Geelong Gallery and Art Exhibitions Australia, are proud to present Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel art-dealer among the artists, the most ambitious international exhibition in Geelong’s history. The exhibition, 20 June-11 Oct 2026, flows over 5 galleries, presenting 70+ works from 2 generations of Impressionist artists, most from private collections in France and never before seen in Australia, re Durand-Ruel’s remarkable legacy.

Albert André, Montmartre, view of Boulevard de Clichy, 1921

Geelong Gallery

Throughout the Gallery, works by Monet, Renoir, Morisot and Pissarro hang in direct dialogue with a second generation of painters long overshadowed by their famous predecessors: Albert Andre, Georges d’Espagnat, Gustave Loiseau, Maxime Maufra and Henry Moret. Supported by Durand-Ruel in Impressionism’s late years, these artists are now being rediscovered, and Geelong Gallery is offering visitors time to appreciate their work. Never before touring outside Europe-UK, Discovering the Impressionists is the first of its kind to trace their story via the art-dealer who made it possible.

Lutetia Hotel, French culture German WW2

The Lutetia hotel was one of Paris’ landmarks, a monument to the city’s cultural memory where art, history and luxury met. In Dec 1910 Lutetia was opened by Marguerite and Aristide Boucicaut, visionary founders of Le Bon Marché. They created a hotel to welcome the department store’s wealthy clientele and reflect the cosmopolitan Left Bank. The result was unlike any other in Paris: a fusion of Art Nouveau exuberance and nascent Art Deco restraint, its grand façade with sculptural reliefs.

front entrance and facade

 

Lutetia always attracted the elite, wealthy visitors, artists, intellectuals and writers who helped define C20th culture. James Joyce corrected proofs of Ulysses inside, Picasso, Matisse and André Gide were regulars and Josephine Baker gave jazz rhythm to its salons. A unique blend of high society and arty avant-garde!

Author Jane Rogoyska focused on this fashionable grand hotel from 1933-45 in Hotel Exile. She wrote of the hotel’s war events before, in and after the German occupation of France. She wrote of the destruction of German & Austrian culture, once the Nazis seized power in 1933.

Germans forced into exile in France included many literary stars of Habsburg Vienna & Weimar Republic: Heinrich & Thomas Mann, Berthold Brecht, Walter Benjamin, Alfred Kerr, Hannah Arendt, Joseph Roth, Franz Werfel & Stefan Zweig and James Joyce. They escaped with their lives but mostly lost their livelihoods. In Paris they lived in solitude or in cheap hotels. They also faced the hostility of French bureaucracy against Germans.

In 1935, a millionaire genius of international communism Willi Münzenberg led the Lutetia Committee. Despite his leadership (supported by E.M Forster & Aldous Huxley), no German Popular Front emerged and alliance between communists & social democrats ended in Aug 1939 with the Nazi-Soviet pact. The leader of the French communists, Maurice Thorez welcomed Der Pakt as a stroke of genius on Stalin’s part that would avert another European war.

WW2 broke out later when many of the exiles had already managed to re-escape to U.S, UK or Switzerland and the German army occupied Paris. This hotel was soon controlled by Abwehr-German Military Intelligence Service (in 1940), a German organisation standing on the Nazi regime fringes. Arthur Koestler, a Hungarian Jewish communist, joined the Foreign Legion to escape the bureaucrats who interned him. But eventually some exiles, inspired by Heinrich Mann, risked fighting back by forming Lutetia Committee of Germany’s Popular Front against Fascism. They met in the elegant Lutetia salons.

Colonel Friedrich Rudolph decided to requisition the French staff, as well as the hotel. The concierge, cooks, waiters and chambermaids continued to serve their German “guests” with their normal respect, and Manager Marcel Chappaz ensured everyone’s comfort. Abwehr commanders stayed until the end. They regrouped in Berlin, where Col Rudolph was gaoled re a July plot to assassinate Hitler.

Meanwhile the political deportees were registered in reception, where the hotel staff were assisted by boy scouts. Many of their patients were the true heroes of France’s war, all that remained of that small minority who had found the courage to fight back after the military debacle of 1940. The survivors returned in a terrible state, here described in vivid detail. Some were wasted with lice or contagious with typhus or TB. Some Lutetia’s staff died following contact with the first postwar guests who they said nothing.

cocktails

Rogoyska’s thoroughly researched account, using secondary sources, is a little less convincing when she generalises about events beyond the hotel’s revolving doors. The Abwehr’s effectiveness in Occupied France was not notably hindered by the dominant role given to rival SS-SD. In any case, the hotel became a place of surveillance and control, not murders. In fact fear of being handed over to the Gestapo gave the Abwehr interrogators a very persuasive argument. Nor did the Gestapo’s brutality lead to an increase in volunteering for the French Resistance. All the Abwehr agents sent to England were either executed or used by MI5, and the deception sent to Rudolph’s Berlin mates was important re D-Day.

Rogoyska suggested that the care given to the deportees absolved the Lutetia from guilt over its wartime role. Or not. In 1955 Col. Rudolph paid a return visit to Paris, a place of happy memories, and cautiously entered the hotel where Manager Chappaz was on duty. He greeted the Colonel warmly and offered him lunch as a hotel guest.

After Liberation, it took on a humane role, serving as a reception centre for deportees and prisoners-of-war back in France. Families gathered searching for news about loved ones, and the name Lutetia started to reflect loss, reunion and remembrance. This era cemented its place in the nation’s collective memory, lending it rare gravity.

Postwar Lutetia re-earned its role as an ideal of Parisian life, remaining a favourite of visiting notables, artists and designers, and its brasserie became a fixture of St-Germain. But the faded interiors, once fresh and modern, had faded. In 2014, its owners closed the property.

What followed were ambitious restorations. Trusted to architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the 4-year project sought to restore Lutetia’s historic features while reinventing it for a new era of luxury. Frescoes hidden beneath layers of paint were uncovered and meticulously restored, marble floors were relaid, and spaces allowed more light. The number of rooms was reduced, creating larger, more comfortable suites with St-Germain views. Eucalyptus wood, Murano glass and Carrara marble glamourised the interiors.

view over Paris

When the hotel reopened in 2018, it became a legend reborn. The restored Bar Joséphine, with its shimmering frescoes and live jazz, once again became a magnet for Parisians and travellers alike. The brasserie reestablished the Lutetia as a culinary destination, balancing tradition with innovation. In keeping with contemporary hospitality trends, the creation of the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre, with a long pool, hammam, sauna, spas & treatment rooms, brought serenity and modernity.

In Ap 2025, Lutetia joined the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Now Mandarin Oriental Lutetia Paris retained its status as the Left Bank’s only officially designated Palace hotel, a recognition of its heritage and standards. And it gained from Mandarin’s global reach.

Lutetia is now a living history, a Parisian institution that witnessed C20th triumphs and traumas, and still embodying the Left Bank spirit. The hotel offers an immersion into Paris itself, so discover the city through its artistic and intellectual heritage: literary cafés, art galleries, Left Bank boutiques and museums. Thanks to Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War by Jane Rogoyska, 2026

music area

epidemics - Clean Body: Modern History

The Clean Body, by Peter Ward

2019

In the midst of the global Covid pandemic, the author of The Clean Body: a Modern History (2019) showed that not only has the concept of clean been in flux throughout modern history, but that it is a social construction. Peter Ward made a convincing argument that what constit­uted cleanliness was a shifting ideal that could rest on one’s ability to pay for it.

In Ward’s timelines it became clear that from C16th-C17th, the body was not the main object of cleanliness. Instead the focus was linen undergarments. Clean people were those who had washed their vis­ib­le skin and who wore freshly washed underwear, something that many of the poor could not afford. As Ward explained in ab­sorb­ing detail, washing laundry was a physically demanding pursuit, requiring hours of difficult manual labour and a substantial amount of water in a world without plumbing and space to wash and dry.

  

Even as cleanliness became bodily, the poor faced challenges. When indoor plumbing is taken for granted, it is easy to forget that the emergence of bathrooms was very gradual. Bourgeois enthusiasm for regular bathing may have taken root in the late C18th, but the poor did not have the space or resources to do it, even with the emerg­ence of charitable and commercial public baths from 1840s on.

In many ways, technology was the major force behind the upsurge in personal cleanliness. What Ward called the Laundry Revolution ush­er­ed in an era where, from 1937, mechanised laundry cut labour drama­tically and allowed for clothes to be cleaned in the home or in a launderette. Simultaneously, the emergence of hot and cold running water allowed for daily washing.

These developments were exploited by clever advertising on the part of soap and detergent companies. Cleanliness was now a health goal, a beauty standard that was aggressively marketed. The expect­ations created by such marketing clearly took hold to a great extent.

Ward has written a rare thing: a history of the clean body, and also a history of societal expectation, technological innov­at­ion, class, privacy and spare time. This is one of those uncommon works that makes the everyday hardship of the past come to life, while at the same time making the reader critique their own exp­ect­ations about the world. This is a masterful work, to be recommended.

**

As I have shown in this blog, sanitation legislation was not passed in Britain until two public health acts arrived: the 1st Public Health Act of 1848 and the 2nd Public Health Act of 1875. The 1848 Act was passed in the wake of a cholera out­break that killed 52,000 people and provided a framework for local authorities. The 1875 Act gave local author­ities new pow­ers such as being able to pur­chase and repair sewers, and to cont­rol water supplies. So the later C19th saw a boom in pub­lic conven­iences across Britain, on high streets, railway stations and work­places. How could citizens even keep their hands clean until then, let alone their bodies?

The Cholera Pandemic of 1846-8 probably started in Mecca, spread to Russia, Great Britain and eventually to the USA. Lack of treatment of human faeces and lack of treatment of drinking water greatly facilitated the spread of the disease, and bodies of water were found to serve as a reservoir.

Now the question is: how much would body cleanliness reduce the rampant spread of infectious diseases across the world? Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported the following findings:

50% of healthy people have Staphylococcus aureus living on their nasal passages, throats, hair or skin.

In 15 minutes of bathing, average people shed 6 x 106 colony forming units of Staphylococcus aureus.

Each swimmer contributes 0.14 gm of faecal material to the water, within 15 minutes of entering. Show-ering with soap before swimming helps stop germ spread by removing faecal material from the body.

Washing hands with soap and water could reduce diarrhoeal disease-associated deaths by up to 50%.

A large percentage of foodborne disease outbreaks are spread by dirty contaminated hands.

Using alcohol gel hand sanitiser in classes showed a 20% reduction in absenteeism, due to infect­ion. 

And NB that handwashing can reduce even the risk of respiratory infect­ions by 16%!

A mask that totally covered the mouth and nose,

and social distancing

Recommended or mandated in 2020

So even though pandemics were spread via coughing, sneezing, sex, birds, farmed swine etc, the respiratory route was the mechanism most likely to lead to pandemic spread in 2020-1. Of course global travel has greatly increased the proportion of the globe open to infection and the speed of the spread across the interconnected world.

  

So with the recent pandemic, the timely detection of disease, av­ailability of basic care, tracing of contacts, quarantine pro­ced­ur­es and preparedness outside the health sector remain very crit­ical factors. As does public health infrastructure, including water and san­itation systems. The Clean Body book was not wrong; it just could not totally account for the control of modern epidemics like Covid19. Thank you to Dr Eleanor Janega for her review.

Scientists and doctors who opposed Covid vaccinations, masks and careful hygiene were very dangerous. And not just Covid. The theme for World Health Organisation Conference in 2020 reinforced the importance of handwashing with soap in order to prevent infection from other infectious diseases eg lassa fever, cholera, common cold, some foodborne diseases and some gastrointestinal disorders.