VARIOUS BEAUTIES
Many of you have probably seen Pinturicchio's grand mural paintings from the Duomo of Siena, especially the one with "Betrothal of Emperor Frederick III and Eleanor of Portugal" from ca. 1502 (because she wears some snazzy clothes, that gal). I was in Siena in October, and of course I stopped by the Duomo. The library room where the murals are, is magnificent. Seeing it in context, with all the gold and ornaments, was such a sight. Pictures without flash was allowed, so I took this one from the end of the room.
One of my courses this semester is about Edvard Munch. So far it is highly interesting, more than I expected, and my interest was heightened when I visited the Munch musem last weekend. It was the last couple of days for the "Munch becoming Munch" exhibition, and it was one fine exhibition! They had borrowed works from all possible sources, and the total was a bit overwhelming actually. Even more overwhelming was the fact that photos was allowed, again without flash, but still. That is really rare in a major museum in Norway.
The first picture shows photos of lost paintings by Munch; many are variants of well-known motifs. The second shows the more "conventional" works of Munch, which was interesting to see. He is so much more than his 1890-1910 paintings (although I do understand why he is most famous for those).
Ooooh, look at these shoes! This statue is placed in the library of the Norwegian Institute in Rome at Gianicolo, and the shoes really caught my interest. To be frank, I don't remember when the statue was from, but it was an original antique piece of some sort.