It takes time.

This semester has been a learning one in all aspects. I have learned that time is a very valuable thing. Today, I had the opportunity to go to London again & it was so much fun! I went inside the National Gallery again, and inside the National Portrait Gallery (which I had not been inside yet). I really enjoyed the Portrait Gallery, and looking at how an artist can capture so much emotion and a story in each portrait through a single moment in time inside a frame. However, the thing I learned most is that it takes time to learn. I was thinking how I have never, until study abroad and being in Europe, had so much time to sit and be in the presence of great and historical art. I love walking through downtown Abilene and going to Art Walk, but there is nothing like seeing a painting so long ago in the sixteenth century, or works by the many master artists such as Caravaggio, Ruebens, Titian, and Michelangelo. 

Today I just sat in the presence of the piece by Raphael, "The Mond Crucifix". This is one of my new favorite pieces. The colors are brightly appealing, the composition is centered around Christ, and it is very interesting. Mary, Mary Magdalene, St. John the Baptist, and St. Jerome are all kneeling around Christ, each person's facial expressions are realistic and full of emotion. This is what I enjoyed most. The painting used to be an altarpiece in the Santa Domenica in Citta de Castello, which I find fitting. This painting caused me to think about how much Mary was hurting, and it shows how Christ was hurting. Angels surround him, and catch his blood in vases as he is hanging on the cross. He could have called them to help him escape this horrible death, but his love for us and will to obey his Father was greater. I am thankful that this message is proclaimed in so many of the art works in the National Gallery, and I hope like I experienced today, that others will spend time with the art and see the glory and splendor of the Lord.