March 15 (Wednesday) is a national holiday in Hungary. It celebrates the 1848 Hungarian rebellion against the Austrian Hapsburg Empire. In honor of the day we have no school today, tomorrow, and Wednesday (though we had school on Saturday to get that third day off), and so I’m celebrating by going to Vienna. On the way I’ve stopped in Bratislava (which is now forever etched in my mind as the city of unceasing wind). I was able to worship at a new English-speaking church plant last night, The Well. It was an eclectic service featuring two Taize refrains, two hymns, two Chris Tomlin songs, two “meditation areas” with lots of icons, two minutes (or more) of quiet time to meditate on scripture (leccio divina), and two former members of the pastoral staff at Church of the Open Door in Twin Cities, MN (one a professional musician and the other a former baseball player). Needless to say, I loved it.
My destination in Vienna is primarily the Kunshistoriche (Museum of Fine Art). I’ve read that it has a collection rivaling the Louver and the British National Gallery, with especially good examples of the 16th and 17th century Dutch and Flemish painters (Peter Paul Ruebens, Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Ver Meer, and others). I’m especially fond of their realistic approach to the human form (warts, wrinkles, love handles, and all), as opposed to the contemporary Italians (Titian, Caravaggio, etc.) who seemed only interested in creating perfect humans. I haven’t done much (any) art museuming in Europe, mainly because I’ve been intimidated. My plan on Wednesday is to go with those paintings specifically in mind, spend some time with them, try to get background info on them (audioguide, here I come!), and merely peruse the rest of the collection. Let’s hope I can become a true art connoisseur during my time in Europe!
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"Humility, that low, sweet root, From which all heavenly virtues shoot" - Thomas More
3 comments:
Ooh, Taize...:)
i just stumbled on in to your blog by accident and i am thrilled i did. Matt, you are welcome back to The Well at any time. sorry we weren't able to have the opportunity to hang. lets hook up next time you're in b-slava or i am in b-dapest
(i guess that didn't really make that name any shorter!)
What a coincidence... on the 13th I was in Florence, at the Ufizzi Art Museum, looking at paintings by Caravaggio! The Italians are idealists, but man, seeing Boticelli's The Birth of Venus was an event for me. Who knew you were being artsy, too, in the next country over! Hope you're doing well--ciao!
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