London Day 7 My Mind, It's Blown

So after a fun filled evening it was back to class, but luckily the fun wasn't quite over yet because our class had some special guests! The actors from the Panto the night before were here to visit. Even the Dame decided to make an appearance. Needless to say it made for a rather entertaining class. It was especially great to hear about all their crazy stories of moments gone wrong and rather unusual audience participation. It was a good, light hearted start to my day.

Next it was the stop I had been waiting to go to all trip. The National Gallery. It was an art museum home to all the works and artists I find most inspiring and dear to my heart. We first sat outside eating our homemade sandwiches watching the human statues and it was just such a beautiful day, and I could barely contain my excitement for what was soon to come.

So finally we entered, and even in the first hallway, I was already impressed. There were just so many beautiful paintings. When we got to the room full of Peter Paul Rubens my heart just stopped.

Peter Paul Rubens is such an inspiration to me. He was not only a great artist, but a great man. He was a diplomat, painter, father, and devoted husband. Not to mention his work is some of what I consider to be the greatest paintings. He was a baroque painter meaning his works are just packed full of movement and emotion, fashion and history, as well as layers of allegorical symbolism. Though he is commonly known for his painting of bigger lady models, in fact that's where the term Rubenesque came from,  his talent and interest goes far behind his choice of models. The very way he paints flesh is so fascinating, he uses so many translucent layers that the skin just seems to glow.
It's amazing to see his work in person, to stare at the brushstrokes that from a distance blend completely together, upclose show the actually hand of the artist, the human element.
There were so many famous works there as well, many of my favorite paintings I was able to stand less than a few inches away (despite the guards eyeing me) and just stare. I loved just being able to stare. I only wish that we could have taken photos. (Well we managed to sneak a few)

There other amazing works besides those by Ruben, but there were just too many to talk about. There is however one other piece that was there that especially rocked my world. Before going on the trip to London I just had finished a course on the Northern Renaissance that focused largely on work by Jan van Eyck. One work in particular we had spent considerable time analyzing and studying, The Arnolfini Wedding Portrait. I remember while reading about this world famous painting noticing that it was located in the National Gallery. When I later learned I was going to London I was determined to see the painting I had spent so much time researching.
Ironically, even though I was eager to see the painting, it was the last art we visited in the museum. What a way to go out with a bang. It was just tucked away in a small room in the corner of the museum but it was tiny and magnificent. The entire painting, which is not much large than a 12" by 16" was just so amazing to behold due to the sheer amount of realism and tiny detail put into the work. I had known it was small before seeing it, so I wasn't surprised when I saw it, but it was just so different from seeing it in class where the image is blown up 50 times its size and projected on a wall. We had spent so much time looking at individual portions of the painting it was great to see it in person and behold it as a whole. It was just an awesome sight for me. Poor Sami, Kyle and Ian had to listen to me chatter about all the hidden symbols and it's mysterious meanings. It was beautiful and a great way to end my trip to the museum. I really can't wait to go back there one day.

We didn't really have anything scheduled for the rest of the night so we decided to walk around a bit and explore. We of course had to first pose with the lions in the courtyard of the museum.

We decided our next mission was to find Buckingham Palace. We just started walking and briefly asked a jogger for directions he told us that it was straight for 5 min.
About 15 min later we arrived (apparently the jogger was a fast walker). It was night so the palace was a little bit eerily beautiful. I certainly would have no problem living there. We peaked through the gates and then checked out the beautiful monument across from the palace. We scrambled about the statues with the rest of the crowd making good on our photo opportunities.

We caught the tube home and it was time for Day 8!