Exploring the Wallace
Collection: Visiting London’s Hidden
Spanish Art Collection with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
After
sampling garden-to-table fare at Cricketeers outside London the night before, I
put Florence in her stroller throne and went to visit the Wallace Collection in
downtown London.
The
guard at the entrance told me that Florence was welcome, but her stroller was
not. I picked Florence up, bought a
ticket, and carried her through the exhibit.
The
Wallace Collection has a great array of suits of armor, but I knew my arms could
only hold Florence for so long. I headed
for the one Spanish painting that really interested me in the collection: The
Annunciation by Bartolomé Murillo.
Delicate
beauty typifies Murillo’s Annunciation and his other religious works. He uses only primary colors (red, yellow, and
blue) in the earthly and heavenly spheres he paints here. The orange color in the center of the
painting unites both the earthly and heavenly spheres and draws viewers’ eyes
to the angel’s finger pointing to the dove in heaven.
There
was no mistaking this painting as an Italian one. The angels in heaven are not sex-sated
cupids, but adorable babies; you want to play with the babys’ toes and tell
them to stop being silly, so they can pay attention to the important events
happening below.
Murillo’s
Madonna also wears simple clothing. She
has a sewing basket next to her. Lilies
refer to her virginity. The dove in the
heavenly sphere symbolizes the Holy Ghost.
Pagan
(Greek and Roman) mythology was largely absent in Spanish Renaissance and
Baroque art.
There
are paintings by Velasquez and Franz Hals in the Wallace Collection as well,
buy my arms were tired, so I reinstalled Florence in her stroller and went to
Epping for tea with honey and lemon in it.
A
great little outing for people with strong arms!!
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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