In the center of London – with Trafalgar Square in its front yard – the National Gallery lets you tour Europe’s art without ever crossing the channel. And through May 22, the gallery hosts a retrospective of the paintings of the Italian artist, Caravaggio.
| While the gallery is huge, it’s easier to negotiate the collection with the help of the museum’s audioguide tours (suggested donation is about $7.60). They’re the best I’ve used in Europe. Be sure to drop by the Micro Gallery, a computer room even your dad would enjoy (closes 30 minutes earlier than museum); you can study any artist, style, or topic in the museum, and print out a tailor-made tour map. Admission to the gallery is free, but tickets (about $14) are required for the Caravaggio show (tickets available online at www.nationalgallery.org.uk or by phone at 020-7747-2885, discounts for students and seniors). |
Displaying Britain’s top collection of European paintings from 1250 to 1900 – including works by Leonardo, Botticelli, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Turner, and van Gogh – the National Gallery is one of Europe’s finest. With so many exciting artists and styles, the museum is a fine overture to art if you’re just starting a European trip and a pleasant reprise if you’re just finishing. A trip here is a wander through the ages, from medieval holiness to Renaissance realism to Dutch detail all the way to colorful French Impressionism – the gateway to the modern art that would follow. Cruise like an eagle with wide eyes for the big picture, seeing how each style progresses into the next.
The current star is Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610). He was determined to shock people with his paintings. He depicted subjects realistically, no matter how ugly or unpleasant. He set sacred Bible scenes in the context of the seedy, seamy side of his Roman neighborhood.
Caravaggio lived much of his life on the edge of society. Quick-tempered and opinionated, he killed a man over a dispute in a tennis match and spent years as an outlaw. Twelve years after he first picked up a brush, he died of a knife wound at age 36.
Caravaggio painted with a profound psychological realism that captures the inner feelings of the common people he used as subjects. It brings to mind the style of his contemporary, Shakespeare, who acquainted himself with English lowlife and incorporated it into his plays.
You’ll recognize Caravaggio’s paintings by the strong contrast between light and dark. Whole sections of canvas are in shadow, with details obscured. If light does shine on a subject, it’s a “third-degree interrogation” light that pierces through anything glorified or idealized, exposing the real person underneath. As Caravaggio’s art shows, the Bible happened to real people and miracles transform the commonplace. His saints have dirty feet.
Remember to cruise beyond Caravaggio. The gallery holds several Leonardo da Vinci pieces, including the ethereal chalk drawing “Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Anne.” Van Eyck’s “The Arnolfini Marriage” shows a 15th-century wedding portrait in exquisite detail. Rubens goes for baroque with his fleshy, flashy art. The Impressionists are well-represented, with lighter-than-air works by Monet, Manet, Renoir, and more. As a British institution, the gallery’s collection wouldn’t be complete without a good dose of stiff-upper-lip restraint, and John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” fits the bill – a depiction of British rural life complete with billowing clouds.
Whether you visit to experience the mercurial masterworks of Caravaggio’s gritty realism or just to get a glimpse of a calm British landscape, the “National Gal” is always a welcome interlude from the bustle of London sightseeing.
Rick Steves of Edmonds (425/771-8303, www.ricksteves.com) is the author of 29 European travel guidebooks including “Europe Through the Back Door” and the host of the public television series “Rick Steves’ Europe.” This week’s schedule on KCTS:
Monday, 5 p.m.: Travel Skills, Part 1 of 3
Tuesday, 5 p.m.: Travel Skills, Part 2 of 3
Wednesday, 5 p.m.: Travel Skills, Part 3 of 3
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.: Highlights of Paris
Thursday, 5 p.m.: Venice
Friday, 5 p.m.: Venice Day-Trips
Saturday, 5 p.m.: Sevilla and Andalusia
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
