Executions

Forget podcasts, gigs, Netflix and iTunes, back in the dirty, stinking days of 12th - 19th century London what passed for entertainment was a trip to the latest public execution. In fact, for 700 years more public executions occurred in the capital than in any other city and they attracted huge crowds (which goes some way to explaining the brutality of modern rush hour). This exhibition at the Museum of London contains artworks, objects and first-hand accounts relating to the unhappy victims of the scaffold and the hoards who turned up to witness them breathe their last. The crown jewel of the show is a blue silk vest believed to have been worn by King Charles I when he was beheaded outside Banqueting House in 1649. The finely knitted garment comes complete with prominent stains thought to be either blood, vomit or sweat. Lovely.