Clarence did not regard himself as an archaeologist. When he first went up into the Mercantour region in 1881, he certainly knew about the rock engravings but his main motive was to extend his botanical studies from the Mediterranean plants round Bordighera to include alpine specimens. He was to use the same painstaking and meticulous […]
Clarence Bicknell, the Collector. What is it about the human brain which makes collecting so compulsive? Many people find delight in hobby collecting; certain types of antiques, Toby jugs, Fabergé eggs, medicine jars, French pochoir fashion prints of the 1920s or garden gnomes. Children (and grown-up children) like to collect toys, especially when they make
Although Clarence is known as a painter of botanical water colours, he painted and drew sketches all his life. The Bicknell family collection and the Museo Bicknell have many examples of architecture, landscapes and images which Clarence observed on his travels. His watercolour of Florence, left, is dated 1885, the same year as the publication of
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Clarence’s painting and drawing was not limited to his water colours of plants. He sketched landscapes, architectural detail, and other subjects especially when he was walking or travelling. Much of his illustration is enhanced into patterns, such as the repetitive use of the stem of a flower and its blossom to create a frame for
In the summer of 1886, Clarence Bicknell rented a house at Castérino on the gentler slopes of Mount Bego, where he could combine his studies of alpine plants and the rock engravings. Increasingly his summers were spent in amassing his collection of drawings, rubbings, and photographs, on which he based his first papers in Italian
An appreciation, by Graham Avery Clarence Bicknell’s major work was the exploration and recording of the prehistoric rock engravings in the high valleys of Fontanalba and Meraviglie. But before he discovered archaeology, his passion was botany, and it was his botanical excursions that brought him to the high valleys. We do not know when Clarence
This list of books and papers written by Clarence will be developed with time, hopefully to include significant unpublished works in museums and the family collection. The first list here includes works about Clarence Bicknell or closely-related subjects and is compiled by Marcus Bicknell. Then there are three further lists created by Dr. Giovanni Russo
Like many a younger son of a moneyed 19th-century family, Clarence Bicknell went into the Church. This was a matter of genuine and felt devotion. At Cambridge University he was much influenced by an enthusiastic group of young churchmen. Soon after he had graduated in 1865, his 23rd year, he took orders in the Church
Castérino is today a hamlet of half a dozen hotels and assorted farms and houses in a beautiful flat valley at 1,565 metres altitude to the West of Tende. For many tourists, hikers, cyclists, skiers, archaeologists and botanist it is the favourite gateway to the Merveilles and the whole of the Mercantour area. The road
Clarence Bicknell in Bordighera. In 1950, St-Tropez became famous by the arrival of movie stars. Bordighera was invented by a different charm of a different era. The foundation of the town of Bordighera dates back to 1470. The palm trees earned the town the name “the Jericho of Italy.” Its public celebrity was launched by
