The palace and The Crown

This jigsaw portrays one wing of the enormous Blenheim Palace. Putting it together was pretty easy, except for the sky, which had to be done by trial and error, as the pieces were so similar.

Blenheim Palace was built following the British victory over France in the War of the Spanish Succession, and given to John Churchill, the first Duke, who led the Allied forces to success in the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Though the grandson of the Seventh Duke was born and grew up here, Sir Winston was not a peer.

The many titles and honours bestowed upon Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill were given for his service to the UK and other nations. As a young man, Britain's most famous prime minister proposed to his wife Clementine in a folly in the enormous gardens attached to Blenheim Palace.

Oddly enough, we were just watching the Netflix series, The Crown, in which, of course, Churchill figures prominently. Near the end of Season 1, artist Graham Sutherland receives a commission to paint the old war horse, and the film shows the interaction between the two men. This scene reminded me of the sketches Sutherland did of Churchill's hands -- mentioned in this blog after a visit to the Audain Art Museum in Whistler a few months ago.