Four hours wasn’t enough time to take in the marbles at the Musei Capitolini in Rome. I surprised myself by not getting tired of all that carved stone. It was magical. Thinking about the hands, long turned to dust, that carefully sculpted and smoothed all of that massive stone, was humbling and uplifting at the same time. Humans are makers and we seem to revel in challenging ourselves with difficult tasks. In this case, turning rock to soft flesh and flowing drapery, all with hand tools. Quite a feat!
There were paintings aplenty in the museum, as well, but they were sadly blackened and in desperate need of cleaning. Nothing worth stopping for until:
Two Caravaggios that glowed like newly painted. They were given pride of place and lighting, to boot. These works remind me that less is more. Caravaggio didn’t have cadmiums or titanium to boost brightness and saturation yet he made work that seems filled with colour and light more than 600 years later. Bow down, mere mortals.
But, by far, the most exciting museum I visited was the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea which was immense and curated with a thoughtfulness and coherence that I’ve never seen before. The current exhibition “Time is Out of Joint” showed works by artists from around the world and from different periods in history within the same rooms, organized not by time or artistic school as is usual, but by concept or stylistic choices. There are hundreds of artists, styles, eras, genres, and mediums shown together to highlight the similar thoughts and choices that all artists share. Putting it all together took brilliance. I wish I could have spent more time (my frequent refrain).
Here’s a random assortment of things that held my attention:
I’ll show you some highlights from London’s museums in my next post. I darn near broke my eyeballs but it was worth it!
I hope these inspire you as they did me.
Happy painting!
Thank you Ingrid! It is wonderful to see the world of art through your eyes. Beautiful photographs and commentary.
Erudite, inspiring, profoundly appreciative of human creativity, humbling and tinge of humour. Thanks for keeping us so well connected.
Gill, x England