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today's thrilling exploits
Jul. 22nd, 2003 07:54 pmtuesdays are free admittance at the Legion of Honor Museum, so i went to check out their exhibit of illuminated manuscripts. it was absolutely fantastic -- it could only have been improved by a soundtrack of Gregorian chants. i may go back for a second look with my discman. i also checked out about half of the museum's other exhibits. it was amazing to get up close and personal with so many Rodins -- and with a bust of Rodin by Camille Claudel, which i'm sure would set ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
saintpierce all atwitter.
there's quite a bit of wonderful 17th and 18th century furniture and other decorative arts on display as well. it was particularly interesting to look into an ornate, gilt-framed mirror circa 1750 and wonder who else looked into it and what they looked like. on the other hand, i could've done without the numerous still life depictions of dead game waiting to be cooked. had my feet been less achy, i'd have gone round checking to see if they were all donated or paid for by the same benefactors -- i couldn't help wondering if perhaps there's just a particularly bloodthirsty patron of the arts out there collecting these things and shipping them off to the museum.
i was absolutely fascinated by the many 18th and 19th century portraits. i prefer portraits and scenic paintings to the historical... er... material that was so popular back then, because it gives me a sense of what people and places actually looked like when the painting was done; so much more interesting than yet another interpretation of Christ being taken down from the cross, each gorier and with more flowing robes than the last. (although one of the illuminated pages on display had a particularly gruesome rendition in which he was actually being skinned alive, rendered in stunningly realistic detail, that was surprisingly lovely.) the LoH has a couple of nice Gainsboroughs, although i actually preferred a couple of very large portraits by other painters i hadn't heard of before (and whose names i didn't write down because i'd forgotten my notebook).
after a couple of hours my feet were aching too much for me to go on, so i resolved to come back again soon to see the rest of the museum, perhaps withnaomi_traveller.
i stopped in a cafe on my way home and was treated to the most well-spoken complaints about San Francisco parking enforcement i've ever been privileged to hear, from a proprietor who looked Chinese but sounded Indian (and highly educated). to my unspeakable delight, he spoke of how assiduously the police have been enforcing parking on Clement street. i don't even remember the last time i heard someone say "assiduous" out loud. i could've just smooched him, only his wife was standing right there.
( personal stuff follows. )
saintpierce all atwitter.there's quite a bit of wonderful 17th and 18th century furniture and other decorative arts on display as well. it was particularly interesting to look into an ornate, gilt-framed mirror circa 1750 and wonder who else looked into it and what they looked like. on the other hand, i could've done without the numerous still life depictions of dead game waiting to be cooked. had my feet been less achy, i'd have gone round checking to see if they were all donated or paid for by the same benefactors -- i couldn't help wondering if perhaps there's just a particularly bloodthirsty patron of the arts out there collecting these things and shipping them off to the museum.
i was absolutely fascinated by the many 18th and 19th century portraits. i prefer portraits and scenic paintings to the historical... er... material that was so popular back then, because it gives me a sense of what people and places actually looked like when the painting was done; so much more interesting than yet another interpretation of Christ being taken down from the cross, each gorier and with more flowing robes than the last. (although one of the illuminated pages on display had a particularly gruesome rendition in which he was actually being skinned alive, rendered in stunningly realistic detail, that was surprisingly lovely.) the LoH has a couple of nice Gainsboroughs, although i actually preferred a couple of very large portraits by other painters i hadn't heard of before (and whose names i didn't write down because i'd forgotten my notebook).
after a couple of hours my feet were aching too much for me to go on, so i resolved to come back again soon to see the rest of the museum, perhaps with
naomi_traveller.i stopped in a cafe on my way home and was treated to the most well-spoken complaints about San Francisco parking enforcement i've ever been privileged to hear, from a proprietor who looked Chinese but sounded Indian (and highly educated). to my unspeakable delight, he spoke of how assiduously the police have been enforcing parking on Clement street. i don't even remember the last time i heard someone say "assiduous" out loud. i could've just smooched him, only his wife was standing right there.
( personal stuff follows. )
