National Gallery

It was cold and rainy today so we (and much of the rest of London) went to a museum. Specifically, the National Gallery. Actually, we meant to go to the National Portrait Gallery, but when we got out of the subway station this museum was closer and, the weather being what it was, we went here instead. They didn't allow us to take pictures inside, so some of these aren't mine.

View of Trafalgar Square taken from the steps of the National Gallery. Lovely weather, huh?

Clock in Trafalgar Square counting down to the Olympics this summer: 178 days, 6 hours, 36 minutes, and 6 seconds from the time this picture was taken - whenever that was.

"Chalets at Rigi" by Alexandre Calame, 1861.

I just loved the lighting. This one's for you, Kelly.

"The Ambassadors" by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533.

This painting is famous for the weird skull that only appears properly in proportion if you stand way to the right of the painting. Naturally, there is a Wikipedia article here.

"Belshazzar's Feast" by Rembrandt, 1635.

For the Bible nerds among us, Rembrandt has accurately reproduced the famous "writing on the wall" in Daniel 5 which reads:

 מְנֵא מְנֵא תְּקֵל וּפַרְסִין

The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 22a) records a debate about how Daniel was able to read the inscription when no one else could. R' Yohanan says it was written backwards, R' Ashi says it was written scrambled, Rav says it was written in some gematriyatic equivalent, and R' Shmuel says it was written vertically. Apparently, Rembrandt follows the tradition of R' Shmuel. Who knew living in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam would be such an education?

"Joseph sold to Potiphar" by Pontormo, 1515.

As long as we're on Bible paintings, this one, part of a series on the Joseph story, caught my eye. Joseph is the young man in yellow in the middle foreground and this scene depicts the moment his brothers sold him into slavery. What strikes me as unusual is how young Joseph looks. Genesis 37 tells us that he was 17 years old, but he looks like a child in this picture.

"Wheatfield with Cypresses" by Van Gogh, 1889.

I've had a print of this painting for nearly a decade, hanging in several dorm rooms and then apartments, not to mention some time in my parents' home when they were babysitting it for me (in fact, that's where it is right now - thanks guys!). Today, I got to see the original.

"Don Quixote and Sancho Panza" by Honoré-Vicotrin Daumier, 1855.

"Toilet of the Venus" by Diego Velasquez, mid-17th c.

I'm no expert, but I think this is the first painting I've seen depicting Venus gazing vainly into a mirror. Incidentally, this painting is one of ten Anna Utopia Giordano transformed in her Venus Project -- a collection of photoshop makeovers of classical Venus images. The artist nip/tucks classical Venuse images until they conform with today's ideals of feminine beauty.

On our way home, through the Charing Cross Station. The station features a mural depicting the construction of the original Charing Cross, built in the late 13th century by King Edward I in memory of his wife, Queen Eleanor. It was one of 12 that were constructed on the pathway from Lincoln to Westminster Abbey, the route of her funeral procession. The cross was apparently a rather large affair, made of stone and featuring an image of the queen. It was destroyed in 1647. Check in with Mordu for more info about what was going on then - I hear there was a civil war or something. Here's another picture of the mural depicting its construction: