Astleys by Pugin & Rowlandson (From Dick Flint)

Astleys by Pugin & Rowlandson001, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. TEXT FOR INTERIOR VIEW (Astleys by Pugin & Rowlandson) Astley's Amphitheatre is actually a series of buildings and here we see it in another famous print jointly drawn by the architect Pugin and the caricaturist Rowlandson (he did the people) at its peak. Note the stage and often the orchestra would be relocated for the great hippodramas that Astley produced incorporating ring and stage—time-filling specs with a story line. So, do these two images suggest that some modern circuses are returning to elements of their historic origins? Again, folks, just trying to have some good fun and reminding all that history is an evolutionary process, always changing. What was a constant in all of these early circuses, however, was the horse and rider, something that has almost disappeared in every circus (or cirque) today. Dick Flint Baltimore