May 2008

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May 9, 2008—
I regret the constraints that prevented us from spending much more time in the National Gallery. But I was able to take notes on a few paintings that stood out to me, and some day I will be able to spend a day or two, sitting and contemplating many more. Here are my notes:

“Portrait of a Young Man in Red” by Domenico Ghirlandaio
-Portraits during this period more commonly are done in the three-quarters view, which was replacing the profile view done in previous times.
-In this portrait, sunlight comes from above the man, who is in the foreground with countryside and mountains behind him.
-His bold, plain features contrast with the detailed yet unobtrusive backdrop

“The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist” by Leonardo Da Vinci, 1499-1500
-This is a sketch in sepia tones, with John the B. as a child and Christ in Mary’s arms leaning toward him. Mary smiles at Christ, while St. Anne smiles at Mary and points upward.
-soft lighting and indistinct lines

“Self-Portrait at the Age of 34” by Rembrandt, 1640
-He seems to be treating himself rather kindly—the lighting is soft, illuminating mostly his face.
-He shows himself in the pose of a particular Italian poet.

“The Umbrellas” by Renoir, 1881-6
-I think the liberal use of slaty colors gives the picture a rainier look.
-The people seem to be friendly, and enjoying the rain.

“Lake Keitele” by Gallen-Kallela, 1905
-What struck me is the amazing use of white; up close the picture is nothing but big smudges of blue, green, gray, and white, but from a distance the surface of the water appears to reflect the snow-capped mountains and a wooded island.
-It looks shiny and clear, like real water.
-The subject, Lake Keitele, is a real place north of Helsinki.

Discovery of Literature
Winston Churchill won an award in school for this poem he composed (at age 14?) in 1890:

The Influenza
By Winston Churchill

I
O how shall I its deeds recount
Or measure the untold amount
Of ills that it has done
From China’s bright celestial land
Into Arabia’s thirsty sand
It journeyed with the sun

II
O’er miles of bleak Siberia’s plains
Where Russian exiles toil in chains
It moved with noiseless tread
And as it slowly glided by
There followed it across the sky
The spirits of the dead.

III
The Ural peaks by it were scaled
And every bar and barrier failed
To turn it from its way
Slowly and surely on it came
Heralded by its awful fame
Increasing day by day

-on display in his handwriting in the Cabinet War Rooms Museum, along with a punishment log book that records a flogging he received for damaging school property!