Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘museums’

Oct 3

1 Comment

Tips for Visiting Delphi, Greece

Delphi was really amazing and should be a priority on any visit to Greece.  A little bit of advice can usually go a long way, so here are some tips to make sure you enjoy your visit.

1) The Delphi Museum Hours Are Variable

Cybele (left) rides a chariot pulled by a lion who is attacking a Giant, from the north frieze (Gigantomachy) of the Siphnian Treasury, on display in the Delphi Museum

I was warned (by a man in Athens no less) that the Delphi museum had odd hours.  This was strangely confirmed when the three recent guidebooks I consulted all listed different hours for the museum.  Once in Greece, I called ahead and found that the museum was closing at 3pm the day we wanted to go.  We had lunch on the run in Thermopylae and made it to Delphi with a hour for the museum.  Since the archaeological site itself is open from ~8am-8pm everyday, we saw bus loads of tourists dropped off just to look at the ruins because the museum was long closed.  I’d have felt a little cheated if I came all that way and didn’t get to see the famous Charioteer statue, the architectural decorations and votive objects in the museum!

2) Pace Yourself

Delphi is a lot bigger than you think it is and built on a steep hill.  If you really want to see most of the site and enjoy the staggering vistas, budget 4 hours at least to see Delphi.  I suppose you could run through it quickly and just see some parts but you wouldn’t have time to start mentally piecing all the ruins together.  It’s hard to approach a large archaeological like Delphi, which contains almost no complete buildings, and immediately grasp the scale.  It’s pretty rewarding to sit at different vantage points and imagine the ancient city.

Reconstruction of Upper Delphi

I was hoping that things would begin to cool in early September but it was still incredibly hot in Delphi.  Since there is very little shade, try to go first thing in the morning or in the afternoon (3-8pm) like we did.  Take breaks, wear a hat and drink lots of water.

3) Stay the Night in Arachova

Arachova – A more authentic and relaxing alternative to staying in Delphi

As you would imagine, the modern city of Delphi is a tourist trap.  The main street is lined with restaurants and cheap hotels each containing some iteration of Oracle, Apollo, Temple or Zeus in their title.  I guessed as much even before I left the US and made alternate arrangements…

Arachova is about 20min east of Delphi and is a lovely town.  What spares Arachova from the cheesy tourist malaise down the road is its status as a top winter destination for skiers who flock to Mt. Parnassos.  Arachova has great hotels and restaurants to serve the influx of mostly Athenians coming up to ski but is empty in the summer months.  Since the city draws Greek sports enthusiasts, you are spared the kitsch seen in Delphi.  Arachova was a beautiful, peaceful town without the crowds and a more authentic place to hang out .

View down the main street in Arachova

There are several nice hotel options; we stayed at Xenonas Iresioni‏.  It is on the edge of town but only a few minutes walk away from the center of things.  The staff was great and the room was comfortable with the biggest double bed we saw in all of Greece.  When I mentioned to the man at the front desk that I was unable to purchase a Delphi catalog because the museum shop had run out of the English version, he gave be an unused one that they had on hand.  Talk about helpful staff!

Sep 24

MFA to Sell Impressionist Works to Purchase Rare Caillebotte

"Man at His Bath" by Gustave Caillebotte

To help fund the purchase a rare piece by Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is selling eight works.   These paintings by Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir and Vasily Vereshchagin are expected to fetch between $16.6 million and $24.3 million.  It is not surprising that the MFA will need to sell art to raise the funds; its donors have recently and generous supported a fantastic new American Art wing and a Contemporary Art wing.  The painting is well worth the sell-off (especially since the paintings in question have not been exhibited since 2003) and I look forward to its permanent place at the MFA.

The new acquisition is “Man at His Bath” which is notable because there are not many works Caillebotte available and is extraordinary because there are very few Impressionist male nudes.  Gustave Caillebotte (1848 – 1894) was fortunate enough to be wealthy during Belle Epoch Paris which allowed him to buy works from his friends Monet, Renoir and others known today as the Impressionist.  While his patronage may have had a longer lasting effect, Caillebotte himself was a very gifted artist.  He and Édouard Manet are my favorite painters from the late 19th century Parisian art scene mainly because they focused on daily activities while often alluding to the darkness of modern urban life.  While “Man at His Bath” is mundane but intimate, his most famous work “Paris Street; Rainy Day” at the Art Institute of Chicago depicts isolated figural groupings moving through dreary streets.  Both paintings are expertly composed with a balance of light and dark and interesting lines.  Caillebotte’s unique nude “Man at His Bath” is an excellent addition at the MFA – definitely worth a landscape or two.

"Paris Street; Rainy Day" by Gustave Caillebotte

Aug 28

Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries Exhibit – National Gallery

If you are near London, you have 2 weeks left to see the exhibit Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes & Discoveries at the National Gallery.  If you are like me and can not make it, they thankfully have a very cool set of case studies on-line to compliment the exhibit.

Conservation Science is the application of chemical and biological techniques to the study of paintings and art objects.  Analysis and identification of an artist’s materials is beneficial for conservators who must select the best processes for cleaning a work.  However, a lot of other information can be gained which helps art historian understand the “life” of the work such as where and when it was executed, how the artist completed the piece and if later additions were made.  For example, x-ray analysis can show places in which a part of a painting, like a hand or face, was reworked.  Sometimes this is done by the artist, or as the National Gallery shows in some examples, by later owners to suit the period’s tastes or possible make the painting more desirable to buyers.  Four Figures at a Table by The Le Nain Brothers (below) is a really striking example of how much more we can learn about a painting through scientific analysis.

What could be underneath the pleasant country scene in the Four Figures at a Table by The Le Nain Brothers? (Photo: The National Gallery, London)

We take it for granted now that an artist would sign his or her work but this was not always the case.  Carefully connoisseurship of an artist’s style can help attribute paintings but sometimes it is scientific analysis that can either rule out a great master or identify a painting’s creator.  The fakes section of the National Gallery’s on-line exhibit is great too!  In the end, scientific evidence will always trump exquisite craftsmanship.

It looks right, but how would you know if Botticelli painted Madonna of the Veil? (Photo: The National Gallery, London)

Newer Entries »