National Gallery of Art

Going to the National Gallery of Art was a real treat!  I'd love to try to give you a taste of what we saw and experienced there.

These are the columns that welcomed us to the front door:

Once inside, the Rotunda welcomes with grandeur and elegance and such a sense of ... space.  I couldn't capture it with a picture.  I'm borrowing this one from a site called photostitch.




The children and I toured through the west wing of the west building.  We walked through the galleries of Italian and Spanish art from the 1200s-1500s, Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Italian, Spanish and French art, and Dutch and German art from the 1400s-1600s.

We borrowed audio tours from the front desk.  We each had a cell phone type of device; certain paintings throughout the gallery posted a number we could call to learn more about the piece.  Some were geared for children, others for adults.  These tools were very well done and made our tour as rich as it was.  We first learned about this painting called "The Adoration of the Magi" by Father Angelico and Father Filiippo Lippi.  It was painted around 1440.  We learned how the paints were made using egg yolks, and that the gold colour around the holy family was made with real gold.  

There were many paintings entitled "Madonna and Child", most with vivid colours like the one above.  This one stood out, being carved in white, but I forgot to write down who created it and when and with what.  It sure is beautiful, though.

One of the things that moved me was seeing scene after scene of the life of Christ.  Stories I know well came alive with beauty and life and deep emotion.  Most of our picture Bibles today show the Story of God in simple, cartoon style drawings.  These pieces of art were magnificent.

this one is of the baptism of Christ, but I didn't write down it's title or artist

I also felt honoured to see the work of artists I have only heard about in books.  We learned about this piece, called "Ginevra de'Benci" by Leonardo da Vinci.  There's a painting on the back of the portrait as well, a crest to represent the woman in the painting. 

These were the signs (on either side of the title card) that told us there was information for us to listen to on our gadgets.  The children's version was more dramatic, drawing the kids into the painting, giving them things to look for, sometimes speaking to them as if they were the artist, etc.  The Director's Tour gave lots of history and other interesting facts about each work.  So well done!

 Rembrandt!    Vermeer!




                  


We all enjoyed seeing two paintings telling the story of Saint George and the Dragon.  Thanks to the audio tour, we were able to intelligently discuss together the differences and similarities between them.  The one on the left is by Raphael in 1506; the other in 1518 by Sodoma.

 

Bathroom break!  Oh wait, even the bathroom causes you to pause and look at beautiful things!

 

We really enjoyed the portraits painted by Sir Anthony Van Dyk!

I looked at this beautiful sculpture for a long time.

Another one of my favourites.  This is called "Mary, Queen of Heaven" and shows Mary ascending into heaven.  It's by the Master of the Saint Lucy Legend (who they don't know by name, except as being the same artist who created an altarpiece painting of Saint Lucy).  The description I listened to about 'Mary, Queen of Heaven' talked about the musical score that two saints are holding in this  painting.  Then the audio tour played a choir, a cappella, singing the score that is on this painting.  And it was magnificent.  I stood there, in a large, mostly empty room, in front of this ten foot tall painting, listening to this old tune...                    The painting is from 1485.  The landscape at the bottom of the painting shows people living their daily lives, unaware of celestial happenings.  If they would just look up....

the hallway

 I could post photo after photo here, but I'll wind it down.  Allow me to just show you a favourite piece from each of us.  And do consider looking up the Gallery's website.  They have beautiful copies of the art pieces there, with lots of information. 

Here's one of my favourites: "The Lute Player" by Orazio Gentileschi....

...the folds of material in her dress are so life-like.

one of Marijka's favourite: "Forest Scene" by Jacob van Ruisdael.  She loves this one because she loves nature!

one of Linnea's favourites: "The Maas at Dordrecht" by Aelbert Cuyp, 1660.
 She likes how you see a whole bunch of boats,
but your eye goes directly to the one on the right. 

Aidan enjoyed "Queen Zenobia Addressing Her Soldiers" by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo from 1725