Kunst

Of course while I was in Europe I needed to visit an art museum. We visited the Alte Pinothek in Munich. They will let you in to see priceless works of art for only one Euro. Crazy. Most of the paintings dealt with religious imagery like these paintings from Italy in the 13th and 15th centuries.

Not only is the art beautiful but the frames were just incredible.

Of course, some of the subject matter was decidedly NOT religious in nature unless you worship strange creatures. They sometimes popped up in very random places.

I mean, what is going on here? Is that monster regurgitating the queens gown? There were other places where I expected to find monsters like in this piece by Hieronymus Bosch.

I was excited to see a Bosch and take a picture for the boys because they love the beautiful children's book Pish. Posh. Said Hieronymus Bosch. The book is full of Bosch's creatures like these little guys.

Love it.
Anyway, back the religious imagery, I was particularly intrigued by the various depictions of the nativity and the Madonna and child. This 16th century German nativity was one of favorites.

The color on this Dutch nativity was almost overwhelming.

But the best part was seeing three depictions of Mary and Baby Jesus by three different masters. That's a Raphael, a Da Vinci and a Van Dyck. The Van Dyck is my favorite.

Thank you Alte Pinothek.