May 20, 2007

• Night Day at the Museum So this past week was supposed to be a trip to Nantucket. That got blown out of the water when my van needed more than $800 in repairs. *wincesighsmallwhine* Michael decided to go ahead and take this week off anyway and we used it as a "local" vacation week. Two of the days we went to Chesapeake Beach; one day we watched Night at the Museum and Spider Man 1 and 2; another day we fished all day*upcoming blogs...I am all out of order*. Friday was the day we planned to go to Hershey Park. Then.. dum dum dummm *insert ominous tones here XXX* along came storm fronts hailing from the midwest. Fifty-ish something degrees, scattered thunder showers, the occasional tornado...uhhh no. Not my idea of a happy-shiny occasion for going to a theme park. Oh and the fact that it is around $45. I don't want to pay $45 to walk around getting wet, cold and dodging electrical storms. Hershey Park: officially tabled until the weather is more cooperative. Since we caught up on the Spider Man movies this week we decided to go to a matinee of Spider Man 3 on Friday. Great movie if you liked the first two! After the movie we had lunch at Don Pablo's mmmm Mexican! But that only took up time until 3pm. That isn't much of a vacation day, now is it? And that is where The Walter's Art Gallery comes in! Now if you have read any of my posts of number you know I am an artsy-fartsy kinda chick. And I happen to LOVE museums of any ilk. Living near DC offers a plethora of museums as the Smithsonian has more than 20 buildings that comprise its collective. I have never been to Philadelphia even though we live less than 2 hours from the downtown area (not sure how I made it through elementary school and Girl Scouts without doing so), but we plan to remedy that lack this summer. I know there are several good museums up there. I also have never been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Actually I have never BEEN to New York! I also would like to remedy that in the near future. Baltimore has two major museums: the Walter's Art Gallery and the Baltimore Museum of Art. I grew up in Baltimore City and my mom took me to the Walter's quite a lot, as well as going with school. Same with the BMA, add to the fact that I took art classes there quite a number of times. The Walter's is a smorgasbord for those who enjoy ancient art. They have artifacts from many ancient cultures and locales: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Japan, China, India, the Americas. On occasion they have traveling exhibits come through. Two years ago or so we saw the Tutankhamen exhibit. SO COOL to see these artifact from the time of Moses in pristine condition. It really solidifies to me how man has, in general, a totally skewed view of ancient cultures' abilities and accomplishments. The are too "primitive" to have done x, y or z. The were "unsophisticated" and "backwards". Humph. The more we find out about ancient culture, the more we find out that us "modern" humans don't know nearly as much as we think we do about the past. One of the very cool things about museums is that you can generally, they are ok with your photographing the exhibits unless it is one that is on loan. You know I love that! So I set my Rebel XT up with an 85mm lens at 800 ISO and starting clicking away. All available light *which really isn't great in a museum as they keep it set to do as little damage to the pieces as possible*, all hand held. I am pretty please with how the images came out. No real significance to the images save the fact that I wanted to play and I love the art in the museum! Here is a sampling of some of my favorite images from yesterday (this is a pix heavy post, be forewarned!): This is a statue that younger Walters commissioned of his daughter, Jennie. Its gorgeous. I didn't take note of who the artist was though. This statue is called The Mourner. I love the emotion that is conveyed in the draping of the cloth, the hand to the head, the stance. This is a detail of a portrait of Mary receiving the announcement of her pregnancy by the Holy Spirit. The lighting on it was what impressed me. Painted on wood with oils. From the Mediaeval period I believe. It could have been painted last week...the colors were vibrant and beautiful. This is a recent acquisition by the Walters'. It was owned by a family in New Jersey and kept in their home. From India, it is made of a technique similar to Paper Mache'. A form is covered with layers of cloth, bark or fiber that is soaked in dyes or rosins. As each layer dries a subsequent layer is added. The form is then removed and the finished statue is painted, adorned, etc. This is a close up detail of a close to life sized image. Absolutely gorgeous! I believe it was a bodhisvitta: someone who has reached enlightenment who returns to teach others. The Archangel Michael, sans wings. A little smaller than life sized it once adorned the front of a sanctuary in a cathedral. I kept thinking statues and paintings of him were of Joan of Arc. Oops. Guess I shouldn't be thinking like that. His hair style and length is exactly like MY Michael's! Next... This is a terra cotta statue of Joseph, believed to once have been part of a nativity scene. The statue is close to life size...and the detail in it, especially considering it is made of terra cotta is really amazing. I believe this dates from the mediaeval period. This statue is about 12 inches tall and is an example of this particular artist's skill in creating glass art. From the early 1600 or 1700s the statue glows when light is shone on it. Gorgeous! This is one of the most beautiful examples of Mediaeval armor that I have ever seen. Made for a ruling Duke in Milan, I believe, the family name begins with M. It is part of he stamp work that is covering the full suit of armor. This photo doesn't do it justice. I can't begin to imagine how many thousands of hours this took to be forged, stamped, hinged, and joined together. Look at the lines of this. A roman statue dating from not long after the time of Christ, this statue is just gorgeous in its execution, rivaling any modern sculptural example. This is the head of a statue from Egypt, made during the Pharonic period. Even with the missing nose, the statue is elegant and compelling. At one time there were details in place for the eyes, giving them lifelike color. It is believed this is the image of a priest or palace high official. This statue is about 25 inches tall and is believed to have once held the mummy of, what else, a baboon! The baboon was an offering to one of the various gods of the Egyptians. In this instance, the baboon mummy isn't included. Wonder what the "gods" thought of their missing offering? A gold-leafed funerary mask, this would have been placed over the wrappings on the head of the mummy. Then the mummy would be placed in a series of 2 inner coffins and a sarcophagus. These coffins and sarcophaguses were often gold leafed as well. Man. I personally will be happy with a plain pine box. My gold is waiting for me elsewhere! This coffin still contains the mummy that was placed inside. Look how vibrant the colors and details still are after almost 3000 years! Cats haven't changed much in appearance in 3000 years have they? This statue is about 8 inches tall or so. Trivia: did you know that when a cat died in an Egyptian household, the members would shave off their eyebrows as a sign of mourning? I don't think many living humans still worship them as gods. Cats believe this is a sad state of affairs indeed. This is a detail from a life size marble statue. I love the emotion conveyed in the pose. This is a detail of a one of a pair of Assyrian or Persian carvings that once adorned either side of a temple entrance. The relief carvings are about 10 feet tall and mirror one another's images. Called The Genius, I can't help but think of the kings that fought against Israel during the Kingdom period. These are in absolutely fantastic condition for most of the relief and look like they could have been carved yesterday. Think it would be a bit excessive of me to ask for one of these bracelets as a gift for my 18th anniversary next year? :^D I believe this painting is of what would be called a "bawdy house" or "cat house". 'Nuff said. I believe the painting speaks for itself, no? I absolutely LOVE Celtic art and jewelry. This pin is probably 3000 years old and is absolutely gorgeous. Some years ago my mother in law bought me a kilt pin that looks very much like this. This is a detail from a painting. The lighting on these were awesome. And what's not to love about little chub chub Cherubs? Ok I think I will stop for now before I bore y'all to death. I took a ton of pix yesterday and these are just a sampling. I can't wait until I start teaching art classes again. Research for doing so is fun and I will get to take lots of pix while doing so. Til next time. Katt

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