I just had the most perfect day on Sunday. The weather was gorgeous, we visited an art museum, looked at wonderful art, and we walked on the coastal path with views of the Golden Gate Bridge. I even managed a quick sketch of the view. It doesn't get much better than that! The trees leading down to the coast path were giving off the scent of pine and eucalyptus. The sky was blue and lots of little white boats were sailing in the bay. I should have more boats in my sketch, but hubby decided he'd sat on a rock for long enough and we had to move on!
At the Legion of Honor museum in SF you can get a quick overview of the history of art in just a few galleries. I loved looking at the different painting styles and subjects, but enjoyed even more watching the progress of fashion through the paintings. I was very interested in an early painting called "Two scenes from the Passion of Christ", by a German artist c 1500-1530 Master of Cappenberg Jan Baegert. This shows the torture of Christ by flagellation (in this case beating with bundled sticks) and the crowning of thorns, all taking place in an impressive looking building with columns and tiled floors. The men doing the torturing are carrying sticks and wearing amazing brightly colored shorts and vests with scalloped edges. The effect is of a lot of cheerful bright colors and theatrical poses, which seemed rather at odds with the very serious subject matter. You can check out the painting on the Legion of Honor's website www.famsf.org/legion by searching their collection for "Master of Cappenberg".
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