 Most
Fun for Adults
My personal favorite was the European paintings. You will find paintings
by several masters whom you may be familiar with, but also many wonderful
works of art from artists who the casual art appreciator may have not heard
of before.
Most Fun for Kids
The kids were most impressed with the Armor Gallery. It features several
swords, suits of armor and other weapons from the medieval period.
Best ages for this attraction
6 and older
What it's like
There are three floors in the museum featuring various works. We spent
our time in the galleries on the second floor. Since we had limited time
at the museum, we each picked a gallery to visit. I am a fan of European
art from the 1400s through the 1800s and I picked the Baroque Gallery.
Other galleries chosen were the Egypt Gallery and the Armor Gallery.
 We
found several Religious and Mythological pieces in the Baroque Gallery.
I was delighted to find a wonderful piece from one of my favorite masters,
Peter Paul Rubens. The artwork was entitled Diana and Her Nymphs Departing
for the Hunt. The write up next to the piece explained how Diana was the
goddess of Hunting as well as Virtue. Diana wore a cloth the looked to
be made from tiger's skin. An intricately painted satyr was attacking
one of her nymphs, supposedly representing the nymphs virtue. I was also
impressed with several paintings by Nicolas Poussin. While discussing
one of his paintings entitled The Holy Family on the Steps, we explained
the use of light in paintings to the children. In this particular painting
the Holy Family's clothing is painted in vivid colors while the rest of
painting is painted with grey, darker hues. We were also introduced to
several Dutch painters, such as Frans Hals, and Italian artists. There
is a haunting painting of Samson and Delilah by Italian artist Gerrit
van Honthorst.
The most impressive piece in the armor gallery is a full suit of armor
for both a man and his horse. One tends to forget that the horses needed
to be protected in battle as well. This piece sits in the middle of the
gallery. It is decorated with etchings in the metal armor. The combined
weight of the armor for both the man and his horse is about 115 pounds.
This gallery also contains several suits of different types of armor.
Even some armor made for a child. Several weapons including intricately
decorated swords are also on display.
 In
the Egypt gallery we were drawn to a the Coffin of Bakenmut. This is the
elaborately decorated coffin has every inch of the surface covered religious
scenes, protective spells, and magic symbols. The decoration on the inside
of the coffin features two great Kings of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty. Near
the top is Tuthmosis III, a strong military pharaoh, who lived 500 years
before Bakenmut. The scene below features two back-to-back seated images
of Amenhotep I, regarded as the patron of the Theban cemetery and worshiped
as a local god there.
The museum grounds are beautiful and you should plan some time to walk
around Circle Park in the back of the museum. There you will find a beautiful
fountain and several statues. On a Saturday afternoon you will see several
wedding parties waiting to get their pictures taken in this lovely location.
See the
Slideshow!
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