Night After Night After Night At The Museum

Well soon I will be off to Italy, the home of Renaissance Artists Michelangelo Buonarroti, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Bellini, and many more. I'm a cynical browser when I happen upon art. Something happens to me when I am faced with so much art displayed in so many museums. And being a natural cynic and judge, (yes I judge. I am a judger.) I just watch the critique come rolling off my tongue, not even bothering to stop myself just before I actually say something, anything stupid, with countless other non-cynical art lovers around. What can I say? It's a gift.

Critic Walter Pater, in his 1867 essay on Leonardo da Vinci, the creator of the most famous piece of art work in the world, the Mona Lisa, described the figure in the painting as "a kind of mythic embodiment of eternal femininity, who is "older than the rocks among which she sits" and who "has been dead many times and learned the secrets of the grave." Well I've heard the painting is really, really small. Someone should warn people. (You're welcome.) Anyway the painting is in France so I won't be among the disappointed.


Apparently there is a lot of 'naked art'in Italy. Perhaps I need to rethink the museum thing? In fact the Italian painter Botticelli is credited with introducing the female nude. Technically you could argue that Botticell was the Hugh Hefner of the the 15th century. During that time the hot temperatures(the temptation of Beelzebub himself) prompted people to remove their clothing. Keeping cool ranked higher on the list than the fear of reprisals for doing so. Apparently the glorious weather and hot temperatures caused folks to not only throw caution to the wind but throw their clothing off into it as well. Check it out. The Birth of Venus

Traveling abroad I anticipate a samll amount of culture shock to rear its ugly head; a temporary befuddlement if you will. For instance, will there be Ketchup flavoured or All Dressed chips available? Would it be polite to ask the locals what they thought of The Godfather Three? (Not a big fan). When the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine is that really amore or are you just plain drunk? Never mind. I'll figure that last one out for myself.