Diary – 10 May 2018

I spend my life moving. Over recent years it was research. Now it’s caused by that research. But I have become adept at adding things on to each trip. In Naples at the weekend, I visited the Sansevero chapel which contains the ‘veiled Christ’ of Sanmartino — a work Canova said he would have given ten years of his life to have created. This is so moving to see in the flesh — even the nail wounds visible through the marble shroud — that you have to make an effort not to ignore the other masterworks around it. Afterwards I steal a night down the coast in Positano. The sun is searing and the Mediterranean like glass. Only the tablecloths billow frenetically in the wind that rushes down from the cliffs. It is a day before the start of the season and the locals are already complaining that too many people are coming to the Amalfi Coast. Certainly the clifftop bends aren’t up to the challenge of the tourist buses, and at some point — like Venice this year — there will probably have to be limits on visitors.

Back in London for one day, Nicky Haslam calls in the morning. He has two complimentary tickets for Bryan Ferry that evening. Would I like to come? I’ve never seen Ferry live before and don’t hesitate. The set, lighting, musicians and capacity crowd at the London Palladium are all fab, and Ferry himself just gorgeous to listen to and watch. By the second half of the show most of the auditorium are on their feet. I’m not sure I agree with this system. If one person gets up to dance then everybody behind them has to. When a friend in front of me stands I attempt to buck the trend and stare stoically into his back.