After our scrumptious lunch of ham and brie on a baguette, we trekked off to the 19th and 20th Century European Sculptures and Art wing. This section of the museum was my favorite because I got to see the works of artists that I had studied and read about for years. The first painting that I noticed when we walked into the gallery was David’s The Death of Socrates, which was very, very cool. There was a group of people in front of the painting listening to one of the museum workers speak about its history and significance, which was both slightly cool and slightly annoying because they were learning, but they were in the way of me studying the painting and taking a picture. One awesome thing we saw was Portrait of a Man in a Turban, which reminded me of the chalk artist professional painting of Man in a Red Turban that was in front of Harrin Hall last semester. Next, we continued on into rooms containing many works by Rembrandt, including my favorite, Herman Doomer.
Off to the side of the art gallery we entered into a section that held musical instruments from all across the world and I think this was one of Katy’s favorite parts. The first thing we saw in here was a set of harps carved out of the complete skull and horns of ibex. You could almost imagine all the different ethnic groups playing on the various violins, pianos, drums, and other instruments. My favorite from this room was getting to see a real Stradivarius violin! After the musical instruments gallery we headed back into the rooms of paintings, where I lived my own mini-Ferris Bueller's Day Off moment when I got a picture standing by a study of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Le Grande Jatte. In the next section, Katy got to see her mother’s favorite painting, Vase of Irises, by Van Gogh, which made her incredibly happy. Speaking of making Katy happy, one of the last galleries that we saw included many works by Degas, which Katy really enjoyed because she likes Degas in general and ballet dancers. Our last stop of the day was to go down to the first floor to see the Greek and Roman sculptures gallery, which was bathed in beautiful sunlight from the awesome day outside. There were many intricate designs, including an amazingly detailed marblesarcophagus. Part three to come!
