Thinking....

So, for Halloween, should I go to work in full Italian or as Abby? I have a feeling, at work, that they wouldn't notice the difference either way.....

EDIT: I'm told I should come in as Queen Elizabeth. I guess the Princess Elizabeth dress would work.... Although negotiating the hoop skirt on the metro would be very interesting.

NGA fun

Since the NGA is only a couple of blocks away from one of the buildings I work at, I've been going there a lot this week. (It's either wait in the cold for an hour for the stupid shuttle or go to the NGA, look at pretty paintings, and then go catch the shuttle after lunch.) So far I've seen the Pompeii exhibit (a bit to early for most of my SCA friends, but it was fabulous), an exhibit on one of the Dutch Masters (early-mid 17th c), and the medieval to modern exhibit as well as just look around at the regular collection (You mean they have Degas and Titan in the same building?!? *squee*).

The medieval to modern exhibit is one I really want to go back to and study some more. There was one manuscript (book) from the 15th c that had red, green, brown, and safety cone orange colors filled in. I mean "OMG! It's ORANGE" orange. It was the only color you could see clear across the room, lying flat there inside a glass table box. Bright, bright orange.

The entire medieval to modern exhibit was heavily focused on the 19th c (two rooms, one room for "medieval" which went from the 15th into the 17th c). I'll take notes next time (and a camera) to give a better idea.

There is a permanent exhibit of medieval/renaissance tapestries, medals, and furniture that I just *adore*. It's a real mix of regions, although the medals are heavily Italian. One of my favorite tapestries is from the 15th c and shows a lady wearing a fitted front lacing gown with multicolored patches. There is another tapestry that must have been eye blinding in the day. You can tell that it was once all the people depicted's clothing was done in gold thread. The gold was taken out and/or faded over the years but it still is very lovely.

If you go through the permanent exhibit, you'll end up in an 18th c room complete with the mirrors and furniture of the day. It's really a great exhibit and my favorite among the permanent collection. There is even a painting of Marie Antoinette hidden back in there.

The Jan Lievens:Dutch Master exhibit was really interesting. It's too late for the SCA and too early for the Charles II project, but the paintings were quite lovely. It's interesting to watch the progression in his work from cheery and colorful to an almost obsession with death at one point and then going into the more "heavenly" works. Many of the early works also showed variations on Turkish dress while some of the later (1635 ish and on) had more Persian dress influences.

I might be able to go again tomorrow after work and check out some more stuff and look at the Medieval to Modern exhibit a bit more closely.