Letter: Polar explorer's fatal encounter

Sir: Sir John Franklin's fate as a victim of polar bears (Letters, 17 June) would hardly be more comforting than his consumption by cannibals. The Landseer painting your correspondent mentions, Man Proposes, God Disposes, hangs at Royal Holloway College, London, in the picture gallery, which is also used in the summer as an exam room.

The painting is considered so gruesome that it might distract the more delicate students from their work, and is covered with a Union Flag each year before finals begin.

DIANA GOWER

London W6