Today was a very different day for me. V had a museum tour, and didn't have enough booklets, so to spare her a trip completely out of the way to my house to collect some, I offered to bring them to Central London for her. Well, that meant I had to be in Central London by 9:30, which meant leaving the house by 8:40, which meant I had to set 4 alarms to get up on time! I'm so bad at mornings. I know to most people 7:45 a.m. isn't early, but I've been working some very late nights this week, and last night was no exception. And I'm a girl who needs a minimum of 8 hours beauty sleep or else!
Because of meeting Val, I figured I would plan to spend the day doing some research for a project at the National Gallery of London (think famous paintings). After giving the booklets to Val, I made the mandatory trip to Starbucks for my coffee (please, you didn't think I would have made some before I left the house, did you?) and then walked from Tottenham Court to Trafalgar Square to the National Gallery. Today was a proper London autumn day: blue sky but cold. As I walked, a guy about my age with a tee shirt announcing PDSA (which stands for People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, which is a charity that raises funds for animals in the UK) caught my eye and announced, "Thank heavens, there is someone smiling! Do you have a minute, miss?" What was I to do? He started into his speech about donating a pound or so monthly by direct debit to benefit their charity and so on. I stopped him pretty early and said something to the effect of "Look here, I think your charity is great, but I won't be setting up a direct debit from my bank account, thanks." He was very gracious and responded with a "That's just fine, it was lovely to talk with you and oh by the way, what's your name?" Well, I don't think he really needed that, but I said Hope, and shook his hand (He's David, by the way).
And I carried on in the blustery day, walking down Charing Cross Road. I got a bit further and saw another similarly dressed chap. I must have smiled. He commented, "Oh, you look like you know what's coming! Do you a few minutes to stop and talk, miss?" I laughed. "Yes, I do know what's coming, I just spoke with one of your colleagues." "Oh, did you now?" "Yes, David." "Oh, you know his name?" "Yes, we chatted for a few minutes, but I'm sorry, I'm not going to sign up to support PDSA today." "Oh, are you just visiting from America?" "No, I live here." "Are you a student?" (MY WORD, IS THIS A SURVEY?) "No, I work here." "Oh, really? What do you do?" "Well, actually, I work with the Church." Surprised look on 2nd PDSA guy's face. "Oh, well, that's nice." "Yes, most people seem surprised when I say that!" To which he very interestingly responded, "Is it? I think most people have some sort of faith these days." After a few more comments, I wished him a good day and once again walked on my way to Trafalgar Square.
As I walked, I couldn't help but think how sad it is that I often get comments to the effect that it is so rare to see someone smiling as they walk along in London. London is a busy, solitary city in a lot of ways.
Shortly after, I reached my destination. First, I did a quick walk through of the gift shop. I love museum gift shops. I suppose that's quite odd. Then, I found my way to Level -2, where I wound my way through the Devotions by Design exhibit, which was very interesting. It was all about Italian alterpieces before 1500. (Yoohoo....don't fall asleep on me now. I know that isn't everyone's idea of interesting!) Then I went up to the main level to do my research on different paintings. After a few hours, I found my way through the galleries to Room 18, for a special talk on a painting by Laurent de la Hyre, whose name I would have not been able to pronounce properly had I not heard it spoken. The painting discussed is called the Allegory of Grammar. Pictures are not allowed in the National Gallery, so I cannot share here, but feel free to google it or view it here. It is a lovely picture of a woman watering two potted plants. I would have walked right by it. However, as the staff person began to explain it, I became quite fascinated.
You see, the woman herself is the allegory. She represents Grammar, hence the title, the Allegory of Grammar. I know, it all makes sense now! In the 1600's, Grammar was thought to be the highest of the liberal arts, which were identified as grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. Laurent de la Hyre painted a series of seven paintings, one for each of the elements of the liberal arts. In this painting, the artist is personifying grammar to show the effect she can have on young minds, which are represented by the potted flowers. I also learned that art was not that highly regarded, because it was considered a mechanic art, and therefore lesser than the liberal arts. During Hyre's lifetime, artists began to combine art and literature, attempting to prove themselves to be educated with a good grasp of the liberal arts.
I also learned a new word: pentimento. No, it's not a new kind of Mento candy. A pentimento is the trace of earlier painting beneath the surface painting. This is usually evidence that the artist changed his/her mind as work progressed, and simply painted over the original detail. As you might have guessed, the National Gallery is a very nice place to spend a blustery afternoon in London.
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