The Rake’s progress: last week in gossip

Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art and museum stories.

Few artists are as considerate to the media as Martin Parr. Invited to a lunch interview by the Observer, the photographer chose an economical wholefood cafe in Bristol as the venue – wanting, according to writer Tim Adams, ‘to make himself a cheap date as a gesture toward troubled newspaper finances’.

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Damien Hirst may have no time for the ‘YBA’ label (given the chance, he’d swap it for ‘Bad British Artist’), but he has even less time for other, arguably more illustrious acronyms. In an interview with the Sunday Times he reveals that he once refused what he thinks was a CBE from Buckingham Palace: ‘It was a few years ago, but I don’t think it was made public. I don’t really like that stuff. I got where I was going by myself. The letters after your name thing just feels a bit uncool.’

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If you thought it couldn’t get any worse than the widely mocked statues of Cristiano Ronaldo unveiled in Funchal earlier this year, think again: the worst football statuary of the year can be found in Kolkata, where a 12ft-tall ‘likeness’ of Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona was unveiled last week…

Football icon, Diego Maradona, has been honoured by a statue with a bronze sculpture that was unveiled at a club in #Kolkata. The statue features the 1986 World Cup winner with the trophy he helped Argentina win in Mexico. The @SGanguly99 vs Diego match is happening today. pic.twitter.com/eB2SWrQARJ

— Calcutta Times (@Calcutta_Times) December 12, 2017

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Finally, in more festive news, the National Archives have served up a Christmas treat to savour – a 17th-century recipe for mince pies. These, it turns out, were an altogether meatier proposition than today’s sweet Yuletide treats.

Discovered among the papers of Edward Conway, secretary of state during the reign of Charles I, the recipe provides instructions for six mince pies of ‘indifferent biggnesse’ and requires, among other things, two pounds of butter, ‘a Loyne of fatt Mutton’, and ‘a Legg of Veale to mynce w[i]th it’. ‘When the Pyes are filled slyce Dates and stick in the top’, it counsels. Who could possibly resist?

Got a story for Rakewell? Get in touch at rakewell@apollomag.com or via @Rakewelltweets.