Travel Alphabet History (M) Museum
I have always had a great love for museums. Art museums especially. It’s wonderful to have a place to go to appreciate the different treasures and talents of the world.
The first museum I ever went to was The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston during my first visit in 1999. There was some kind of abstract art exhibit going on. There was a row of heads with different moving faces projected onto them and a video that was edited together of someone basically doing four moves. It was edited in such a way that it played some kind of beat. I don’t think I was crazy about abstract art, but it was interesting. I took an art class in college and ended up going to the MFA quite a few times freshman year. We had to pick a painting to write a paper about. As I walked through the museum there was one painting that caught my eye immediately. I didn’t realize I had stopped in my tracks to look at it, but I knew it was the painting I wanted to study/write about. It was Picture Gallery with Views of Modern Rome by Goivanni Paolo Pannini. I was so amazed by it. It was a painting of an art gallery with paintings all over the walls and floor. All of them different famous architectural structures in Rome. There was so much tiny detail into every image. It remains to this day my favorite painting. I did get free admission into the MFA with my school ID but I regret not taking advantage of it more since after freshman year I only went back a handful of times.
There actually is an Art Museum in Delaware. I had no idea because I honestly didn’t think there was anything in Delaware. But senior year of high school in 2001 we took a class trip to the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington. It was a nice little museum. There was a painting of a violin that looked so real I felt like I could grab it right off the wall.
I don’t really think there is a ‘best’ museum. I’ve been in museums all over the world. Churches all over Europe themselves are like museums with frescos, paintings, murals and statues everywhere. During my 2004 study abroad program, we spent hours studying paintings inside of art museums in Bruges and Venice.
The largest museum I’ve ever been in was the Louvre in Paris during my 2009 trip. It was endless and incredible. I’m still amazed that we managed to walk through every corridor. Amazingly enough, the Louvre had an entire room full of Giovanni Paolo Pannini paintings. They had another Gallery of Views of Modern Rome that he had re-painted and they had its counter part Gallery of Views of Ancient Rome. I love the tiny details that you really have to focus in on to see. Words can’t describe how amazing the paintings were. The Louvre is home to the Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo and some of the other more famous works, but my real excitement was over getting to see so many paintings by my favorite artist.
The most surprising museum I went to was in Paris as well. I had heard that the Musee d’Orsay used to be a train station but was turned into an art museum. I was kind of put off by it wondering how it would measure up. I am so so glad I went because I almost considered not seeing it. It was incredible. There were rooms and rooms of amazing art. Full rooms dedicated to a single artist. They had a Van Gough room and a Monet room. They even had a replica of the Gates of Hell from the Rodin, my favorite sculpture. The most interesting thing I remember from there was a sculpture of a woman’s head. Her face was in sheer pain and she was surrounded by snakes. The description was that it was a sculpture of a prostitute being tortured in hell. You get the message.
The worst museum I’ve been to was the Uffizi in Florence during my 2011 trip. And by worst, I mean the worst to go through. It was poorly managed in every way possible. I had read ahead of time that you will end up waiting in line for hours upon hours so I pre-ordered our tickets. However, this didn’t save us much time. There were lines upon lines to get into the museum. First there was a line to buy your ticket. Purchasing one in advance only allowed us to bypass that line. After we got our tickets we were ushered into a different line. That line split up into two more lines, one for groups and one non-groups. Those lines were to get through x-ray and bag checks. Then all of the lines converged together in one hallway with no organization whatsoever. We all had to try to form one single file line amongst the chaos to get into the museum as only one person was scanning tickets. After that, there was a line to go up the stairs just to get into the museum. The museum itself housed an amazing collection. The most famous works being Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Spring. Joe noticed something very strange in another painting in that same room. The Portinari Triptych by Hugo Van Der Goes has some kind of dog/dragon monster head in the background behind the little girl. Joe kept saying, “What is that? That is strange. That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.” The painting I really liked was the Crucifixion with Mary Magdelene by Luca Signorelli. I could see how much love and pain was on Mary’s face as she knelt by Jesus. She was the only one there caring about him while everyone in the background was busy not even noticing them. It was like Mary was the only person who truly loved about him.
The Uffizi wasn’t bad because of the artwork. In fact the artwork housed there is some of the most notable in the world and the collection was amazing in every room. The problem was that the museum was hard core. Besides the never-ending poorly organized lines. There was nowhere in the museum to sit down. They had some benches in the Botticelli room and some in the hall but that was it. Every room was a room to stand in. No seats anywhere and it was a BIG museum. The whole museum was shaped like a horsehoe and there was only food and beverages for sale at the very end before you leave. Not easy to get to at all if you’re starving or dying of thirst like we were. Once we got to the café to busy some water, we were not allowed a cap for the bottle because food and drinks were not allowed to leave the area so we had to drink it there. There was a small sitting area, but it was roped off so that only people in the café who purchased food could sit there. There was a large patio area right in front of the tower to the Palazzo Vecchio but it provided no seating at all. We sat on the ground to drink our water. I didn’t really understand why this museum had nowhere to sit at all when there were places where they could have put benches. I felt like they were just being cruel. Joe summed it up by saying, “This museum is hard core.” Maybe they just want to keep people moving through it all day so it doesn’t get too crowded? On the way out though, we say the Medusa head painted on a leather shield by Michelangelo Caravaggio. That was totally awesome!
I’m blessed to live in LA where I have unlimited access to tons of museums both inside the city and in surrounding areas. I always try to go to every special exhibit the museums host. I’ve been to The Getty more times than I can count. There’s also LACMA, MOCA, Natural History Museum, Science Center, The Hollywood Museum and countless others. Art is amazing. Art is history, preservation, talent and passion. Art is the beauty in life.
The first museum I ever went to was The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston during my first visit in 1999. There was some kind of abstract art exhibit going on. There was a row of heads with different moving faces projected onto them and a video that was edited together of someone basically doing four moves. It was edited in such a way that it played some kind of beat. I don’t think I was crazy about abstract art, but it was interesting. I took an art class in college and ended up going to the MFA quite a few times freshman year. We had to pick a painting to write a paper about. As I walked through the museum there was one painting that caught my eye immediately. I didn’t realize I had stopped in my tracks to look at it, but I knew it was the painting I wanted to study/write about. It was Picture Gallery with Views of Modern Rome by Goivanni Paolo Pannini. I was so amazed by it. It was a painting of an art gallery with paintings all over the walls and floor. All of them different famous architectural structures in Rome. There was so much tiny detail into every image. It remains to this day my favorite painting. I did get free admission into the MFA with my school ID but I regret not taking advantage of it more since after freshman year I only went back a handful of times.
There actually is an Art Museum in Delaware. I had no idea because I honestly didn’t think there was anything in Delaware. But senior year of high school in 2001 we took a class trip to the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington. It was a nice little museum. There was a painting of a violin that looked so real I felt like I could grab it right off the wall.
I don’t really think there is a ‘best’ museum. I’ve been in museums all over the world. Churches all over Europe themselves are like museums with frescos, paintings, murals and statues everywhere. During my 2004 study abroad program, we spent hours studying paintings inside of art museums in Bruges and Venice.
The largest museum I’ve ever been in was the Louvre in Paris during my 2009 trip. It was endless and incredible. I’m still amazed that we managed to walk through every corridor. Amazingly enough, the Louvre had an entire room full of Giovanni Paolo Pannini paintings. They had another Gallery of Views of Modern Rome that he had re-painted and they had its counter part Gallery of Views of Ancient Rome. I love the tiny details that you really have to focus in on to see. Words can’t describe how amazing the paintings were. The Louvre is home to the Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo and some of the other more famous works, but my real excitement was over getting to see so many paintings by my favorite artist.
The most surprising museum I went to was in Paris as well. I had heard that the Musee d’Orsay used to be a train station but was turned into an art museum. I was kind of put off by it wondering how it would measure up. I am so so glad I went because I almost considered not seeing it. It was incredible. There were rooms and rooms of amazing art. Full rooms dedicated to a single artist. They had a Van Gough room and a Monet room. They even had a replica of the Gates of Hell from the Rodin, my favorite sculpture. The most interesting thing I remember from there was a sculpture of a woman’s head. Her face was in sheer pain and she was surrounded by snakes. The description was that it was a sculpture of a prostitute being tortured in hell. You get the message.
The worst museum I’ve been to was the Uffizi in Florence during my 2011 trip. And by worst, I mean the worst to go through. It was poorly managed in every way possible. I had read ahead of time that you will end up waiting in line for hours upon hours so I pre-ordered our tickets. However, this didn’t save us much time. There were lines upon lines to get into the museum. First there was a line to buy your ticket. Purchasing one in advance only allowed us to bypass that line. After we got our tickets we were ushered into a different line. That line split up into two more lines, one for groups and one non-groups. Those lines were to get through x-ray and bag checks. Then all of the lines converged together in one hallway with no organization whatsoever. We all had to try to form one single file line amongst the chaos to get into the museum as only one person was scanning tickets. After that, there was a line to go up the stairs just to get into the museum. The museum itself housed an amazing collection. The most famous works being Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Spring. Joe noticed something very strange in another painting in that same room. The Portinari Triptych by Hugo Van Der Goes has some kind of dog/dragon monster head in the background behind the little girl. Joe kept saying, “What is that? That is strange. That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.” The painting I really liked was the Crucifixion with Mary Magdelene by Luca Signorelli. I could see how much love and pain was on Mary’s face as she knelt by Jesus. She was the only one there caring about him while everyone in the background was busy not even noticing them. It was like Mary was the only person who truly loved about him.
The Uffizi wasn’t bad because of the artwork. In fact the artwork housed there is some of the most notable in the world and the collection was amazing in every room. The problem was that the museum was hard core. Besides the never-ending poorly organized lines. There was nowhere in the museum to sit down. They had some benches in the Botticelli room and some in the hall but that was it. Every room was a room to stand in. No seats anywhere and it was a BIG museum. The whole museum was shaped like a horsehoe and there was only food and beverages for sale at the very end before you leave. Not easy to get to at all if you’re starving or dying of thirst like we were. Once we got to the café to busy some water, we were not allowed a cap for the bottle because food and drinks were not allowed to leave the area so we had to drink it there. There was a small sitting area, but it was roped off so that only people in the café who purchased food could sit there. There was a large patio area right in front of the tower to the Palazzo Vecchio but it provided no seating at all. We sat on the ground to drink our water. I didn’t really understand why this museum had nowhere to sit at all when there were places where they could have put benches. I felt like they were just being cruel. Joe summed it up by saying, “This museum is hard core.” Maybe they just want to keep people moving through it all day so it doesn’t get too crowded? On the way out though, we say the Medusa head painted on a leather shield by Michelangelo Caravaggio. That was totally awesome!
I’m blessed to live in LA where I have unlimited access to tons of museums both inside the city and in surrounding areas. I always try to go to every special exhibit the museums host. I’ve been to The Getty more times than I can count. There’s also LACMA, MOCA, Natural History Museum, Science Center, The Hollywood Museum and countless others. Art is amazing. Art is history, preservation, talent and passion. Art is the beauty in life.