Today's forecast is windy and sunny but a bit chillier than it has been at 17C/62F and consequently, I set off for the train to London with a light coat
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I do sometimes feel a little jealous when I see accounts of visits to exhibitions. That's the downside of living where we do. Likewise the absence of meal delivery services. But one can't have everything and I do get to see exhibitions when we visit Cardiff or London.
We were determined not to move too far from London because of free travel to exhibitions and museums - I’m so used to having them on our doorstep I forget how spoiled we are :)
We’ve seen The Ugly Duchess exhibition and I did find it interesting as I had never realised that the inspiration might be a lost Leonardo drawing. Not sure I was over keen on the Renaissance idea of making fun of caricaturing older women, lustful or not!
There are quite a few Zurbarán versions of Saint Francis meditating but I see the one they used is the one that is in the National Gallery collection. Our fine arts museum here in Sevilla has some very impacting Zurbarán paintings but he did do so much of his work in Sevilla. We drove past his birth town of Fuente de Cantos today on our way back to Sevilla today. :)
I'd not come across Zurbarán before, so it was a pleasure to see what a talented artist he was. It was interesting seeing all the different versions of the same person. There was a Goya, but I wasn't that keen on his version.
Zurbarán was a master of chiaroscuro (claroscuro in Spanish) and his work is dramatic because of that, among other things. Goya can be...difficult. There is a huge difference between the Goya who had to paint to live and the Goya who painted what he liked. So many religious paintings were commissioned by the Church. Of course that's true of many painters.
I was a bit surprised too - but they mostly seemed to concentrate on the time he was given the stigmata and the interpretations of him by the big artists.
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We were determined not to move too far from London because of free travel to exhibitions and museums - I’m so used to having them on our doorstep I forget how spoiled we are :)
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The St Francis exhibition sounds very varied.
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Yes I remember you saw it - I thought it was very bijou and not nice to make fun of anyone!
The St Francis is free and quite large. There’s some nice renaissance icons in it too.
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:)
Both exhibits grab my attention!
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Goya can be...difficult. There is a huge difference between the Goya who had to paint to live and the Goya who painted what he liked. So many religious paintings were commissioned by the Church. Of course that's true of many painters.
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I'm a bit disappointed at how few of the St Francis offerings include animals.
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I was a bit surprised too - but they mostly seemed to concentrate on the time he was given the stigmata and the interpretations of him by the big artists.
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