Five Day Excursion to the North

Visiting Liverpool was a pretty fascinating experience. The city holds so much history, especially in relation to the emigration of millions of people. It was pretty incredible to see the spot where the first missionaries arrived in England and where thousands of Saints left to gather in Zion. I loved that we sang "Come, Come, Ye Saints" at the docks where these Saints showed their faith and obedience by leaving their homeland and traveling to a new country.


This picture was taken from the backyard of Dove Cottage, the home of William Wordsworth. He spent his most creative years living in the Lake District.
"Nature never did betray the heart that loved her." - William Wordsworth

I took this picture on our morning hike in Windermere. Unfortunately, a few other girls and I got separated from the main group. We didn't make it to the view of the lake but we still enjoyed a beautiful walk through the country and the little town in the area.

I took this picture through the bus window sometime during the week, which is why the bottom portion of the picture is blurry. I actually like the effect that the blurriness gives to the picture. It somehow connects with the black tumultuous clouds in the sky.


Fountains Abbey may be one of my favorite things that we've done since arriving in London. I was in awe of the majestic ruins in the picturesque landscape. As I explored the ruins I tried to imagine the lives of the monks who lived and worshiped there. I loved the man-made and natural beauty found at this site.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London was begun in 1078 by William the Conqueror. The first building was the White Tower which is the inner most tower on the complex. Now the Tower of London consists of 20 towers total: 13 towers on the middle wall, 6 on the outer wall, and 1 tower in the middle.

The White Tower

Although the Tower of London is a royal palace and a fortress, it has also been used as a prison and is probably most well known for this. Prisoners have included royalty, political and religious enemies, and even children.

Personally, I enjoyed visiting the Beauchamp Tower. This is where many prisoners, especially political prisoners were held. There were many interesting stories of prisoners who were held there such as Thomas Abel, Catherine of Aragon's chaplain and one of Hitler's deputies during WWII. In this tower you can see the engravings of the prisoners on the walls.

The crown jewels are also kept within the Tower of London. Including the First Star of Africa, which is a 530.2 carat diamond.

Building where the Crown Jewels are held

Canterbury

Canterbury Cathedral is located in the south of England in the county of Kent. It is well known as one of the oldest and most famous cathedrals in England. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury who serves as the leader of the Church of England.

The cathedral is most famous for the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170, and the subsequent pilgrimages made there to honor him. Becket’s remains were originally placed in the crypt but were moved up and placed in a shrine for people on pilgrimage to see. However, when Henry VIII called for the dissolution of the monasteries the shrine with Becket’s remains was removed and has not been recovered.

The cathedral we see today is very different from the cathedral in the past. It has been built over two centuries and has suffered fires and other destruction. You can see the change in architecture as you walk through the cathedral. The rounded Roman arches transform into the pointed Gothic arches.

During the Puritan reign in England many of the icons and paintings in the cathedral were destroyed. The heads and hands were cut off most of the icons and the paintings removed from the walls and ceilings. However, in the crypt there is a room that had been blocked off by a stone wall for hundreds of years. When this wall was removed it was discovered that the room had escaped the Puritan’s grasp. The Medieval ceiling paintings can still be seen.

National Gallery Assignment: Medieval vs Renaissance Art

School of Athens by Raphael

In comparing the Medieval Age to the Renaissance, we can see the changes and transitions that took place between these two periods. These transitions can also be seen in art completed during these periods. The medieval painting entitled The Baptism of Christ is attributed to the artist Lorenzo Monaco and was done in 1387-8. It depicts the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist. The religious theme of this painting reflects the culture and values of the time. In contrast, the Renaissance painting, School of Athens by Raphael, depicts the greatest of the ancient philosophers gathered together. This exemplifies the Renaissance ideals of philosophical and scientific thinking. Although this particular Renaissance piece is purely secular, many others, even others by Raphael, depict religious themes.

In addition to the subjects of these two paintings, the aesthetics also differ quite a bit. This can be illustrated in the use of colors and their different values. Although the two paintings use the same general colors of rich reds, greens, and gold, the differing intensity and values of these colors change the entire impact of these pieces. The Baptism of Christ uses darker, deeper values making the piece seem darker and more dense. This contrasts with the School of Athens in which the values of the colors seem much lighter. The difference in the scale of these two paintings also affects the aesthetics. The elements in Monaco’s painting are not proportional which contributes to the darker, heavier effect. Raphael’s painting is not only proportional but uses the element of perspective, an important aspect of Renaissance art, which aids in providing a lighter, less dense affect. Both of these pieces display the characteristic styles of the periods in which they were completed and show the change and transition between the two periods.

National Gallery Assignment: Carot to Monet

Open air painting is the practice of painting a landscape out in the open. It came into practice in the 18^th and 19^th century when artists flocked to Italy to paint the countryside. These pieces most often depict mountains, valleys, meadows, rivers, and other natural landscapes. This style of painting was thought of as practice for the hand and eye in capturing the ever changing effects of the sunset, cloud patterns, natural textures, and light. Eventually this practice developed into an art form in and of itself, having a significant effect on the style and subject matter of European landscape painting.

Many of the paintings in the exhibit demonstrated an objective of showing the overall effect of a landscape and the elements that act on it. Broader, less precise strokes were used in many of the pieces to convey these effects. Shadows, changing light, and the movement of wind in the trees can be seen through the use of this stroke technique. Focusing too much on detail and precision would take away from these elements. Other elements benefitted from more precise focus. In other paintings, certain areas of focus in the painting were done with more detailed strokes, such as the disruption of water rushing over rocks or the shifting cloud patterns. While these particular elements were more detailed, the rest of the painting was less precise. Another aspect of open air painting is the use of color in capturing the landscapes and elements being painted. The use of color in open air painting focused on the different hues found in the natural setting. This style of painting aspired to capture these hues, which are often created by differing lighting and textures. All of these techniques in open air painting affected the style and subject matter of European landscape painting.