The National Gallery

Oct 5, 2017

2 min read

So let's talk about the National Gallery. Just about the only things I knew about this museum was that there were several Van Gough's and a Caravaggio. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the gallery and split up, i went looking for the Caravaggio for probably 20 minutes, cutting my time to explore the rest of the museum short, but I was keen on setting my eyes on my very first Caravaggio. Unfortunately, I learned that the Caravaggio was moved to Scotland or somewhere because another museum was renting it out for the month. I was DEVASTATED but I knew there were more Caravaggio's to come once we made it to Rome, so I just brushed it off and continued on my way through the museum. I was making my way to the Van Gough's when on my way I saw some pieces by amazing artists I have been studying for years. I saw some Peter Paul Rubens, who is my favorite baroque artist, Rembrandt who is my second favorite, Turners, a da Vinci, some unfinished paintings of Michelangelo which were breathtaking, a small sculpture by Michelangelo, a few other obscure paintings that I had studied in the past, and then I made it to the Van Gough's. I was so excited! I quickly swarmed through the crowd just as everyone else was doing to catch a glimpse of his sunflowers and his chair. I was so happy to be where I was standing, but the crowd was immense so I decided to back up and check what else was in the room, and then to the left, on a separate wall was a Picasso! I was delighted! It wasn't what you would expect when thinking about Picasso, but it was still breathtaking to just be in the same room as all these amazing paintings. I finally got my turn to take a full view of the Van Gogh's, and as I continued on the my right, I caught glimpse of something that I didn't think could be real. I couldn't contain my excitement with what was just slightly to my right, I hesitated to look again just in case I was wrong, but I looked again, and there was a painting by Gustav Klimt. I cried. I stared at it in awe. I had no idea I would be seeing a Klimt that day, and I am still in shock that I was able to see what I saw. I will never forget that image, or the experience I had while in the National Gallery. See now, the Klimt wasn't "The Kiss" but it was still a painting by Gustav Klimt. A large painting, just about full body scale, and I was standing right in front of it.