Sunday, April 17, 2011

Museum of Art in Philadelphia

At the last minute, my boyfriend and I were invited to go to Philly to see the Museum of Art with his aunt. It was a rainy, blustery day, and we didn't have anything planned, so we said, "Yes!"


It's a rather large museum, and we didn't actually get to see it all because it closed at 5 pm, and we didn't get there until around 1 pm. We also had a lunch in the middle, so you can imagine that our meanderings didn't get us through the entire store of riches exhibited there. However, we've all decided that we want to go back again, soon. They have a Marc Chagall exhibit that we didn't get to, as we thought the place stayed open later.


However, here are some of the cool things that I saw...


Armor from the middle ages. Even equine armor!



Detail of one of the pieces.



Horse "helmets" and muzzle guards.



Miniature model of entire horse armor.


There were all kinds of weapons with intricate detailing, which is what fascinated me. They sure did put a lot of time, art, energy and beauty into weapons of destruction back then.






This is metal inlay... very fine work!
Either bone or ivory inlay, it didn't say.

Your "basic" travel kit for dueling.

Fancy powder storage.

Even a big cowry shell was used to hold powder.

Some beautiful swords. One at left has a gun, also.

At the rear are the Viking swords... ancient rough-hewn weapons.
There were also some beautiful and delicate things, like miniature silver service ware for your average little princess' dollhouse. I would've LOVED these things when I was a child!



And of course, there were paintings... my favorites were these two pieces by Henry Rousseau, this one by Claude Monet (because I was actually standing in this spot almost a year ago and recognize it) and this piece by Paul Cezanne, which I wrote a paper about in high school.
Henry Rousseau

Henry Rousseau

Claude Monet - "Pont Neuf"

Paul Cezanne - "Mont Saint Victoire"
Last, but not least, of the cool things I saw and photographed, are some pieces of original Lustre-ware, also known as Majolica, a Louis IV salon, and a few odds and ends...






Majolica beads that were given to women by their admirers.
 If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I suggest planning your day there. There's so much to see spanning three floors. They have a cafe there, but the restaurant called Granite Hill, though pricier, is definitely where I'd suggest you eat. They have delightful dishes that you can order a la carte, or you can do their Prix Fixe menu for $35, which gets you a starter, an entree and a dessert. It's delicious food and very professional service.


I wanted to see the Asian Art exhibit, which also has an old Japanese Tea House set in the middle of it, completely reinstalled from it's original location in Japan. There just wasn't time! I didn't even get to see the Modern Art wing, as it turned 5 pm as soon as I reached it. Bummer. So another visit is planned, which is completely worth the one hour trip from Bethlehem to Philly. Maybe I'll see you there?  


1 comment:

Terriaw said...

cool museum! I bet it was cool seeing all those medieval artifacts in person.

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