Funny how English Heritage likes this!

They’ve just highlighted this, a watercolour by James Bridges c.1830, one of many depictions of Stonehenge at Wiltshire Museum.

We wondered why this one, in particular, appealed to them, and then it struck us: look at the human figures, shrunk to a ludicrously small size relative to the stones, smaller than any painting we’ve ever seen, all to give an optical illusion of how massive the monument is.

Creating optical illusions to misrepresent Stonehenge is something at which English Heritage is highly adept. Here’s just one of many examples …

Stonehenge: up a bit, right a bit, zoom a bit: how they already moved the road!

01/07/2021 in Uncategorized (Edit)

(And note how the “Add traffic jam” filter is switched on for the second shot!)

It’s a simple truth that the effect of the road varies according to exactly where the visitors stand, and when. Is that a reason to never select the best viewpoint at the best time but always the worst viewpoint at the worst time? Is that being truthful?