LGBT+ collections curator at Historic Royal Palaces
HOW MUCH DOES THE HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES (HRP) COLLECTION TELL US ABOUT THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY?
There are traces of LGBT+ lives everywhere in the architecture of the palaces and the collections. I’d recommend walking through somewhere like Hampton Court Palace with your eyes open for LGBT+ histories. You’ll be surprised by what you see. From the bust of the Roman Emperor Hadrian - who made his lover Antinous a god - that greets every visitor in the first courtyard, to overlooked eroticised paintings of two women, examples of same sex-love and desire are everywhere.
