Categories: methsoc
Date: 22 November 2008 15:13:32
This morning I went on a trip to the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle. It's a magnificant French designed building in the middle of the Northumbria countryside which takes your breath away when you first catch a sight of it.
There is currently some restoration taking place which means at times you feel like you are walking around some surreal exhibit in the Tate Modern, rather than a proper museum, with various items being placed under wendy house like structures or wrapped in white paper, amid the vast rooms with beautiful drapes.
There are, of course, a range of exhibits still on display including some beautiful pictures. Additionally there is also currently an exhbition on called Faith and Love: Picturing the Bible from Raphel to El Greco. Within this exhibition was the second most beautiful painting I have ever seen. It is a depiction of the Samarian Woman at the Well scene and the main picture contains Jesus and the woman looking at each other in a way which I haven't ever seen a picture express Jesus as looking, and then has 3 of the disciples away at one side looking disapprovingly. The detail next to the picture just indicated it was 16th century but did not give the artist and having searched Google images I can't find it to link to. So you'll just have to take my word for it being an amazing picture. The thing in it which got me was the look on all the characters faces, it totally depicted for me the picture I see in my mind when I read that story, even if the clothing - as with so many pictures of the time - wasn't factually accurate.
Also went off to a wonderful ickle tea shop in Barnard Castle afterwards, which I can totally recommend.
So all in all a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning.