Saturday, July 11, 2009

Ciao, Tullio!!


Venerdì, degli studenti della mia lezione di italiano, la professoressa, sue figlie, sua madre ed io siamo andati alla Galleria Nazionale d'Arte a Washington, DC. C'era una mostra delle opere di Tullio Lombardo. Lombardo è stato un scultore del Rinascimento e ha abito a Venezia. Ecco una photografia di una sculture di Lombardo.

For the rest of my friends, I guess I should change to English. I'm taking an intensive three-week Italian class this summer at George Mason University, and it's GREAT! As part of the class, some of us met at the National Gallery downtown to see an exhibit of Tullio Lombardo's sculptures. Lombardo is a Venetian Renaissance sculptor. Unfortunately, we couldn't photograph anything inside of the exhibit because it was on loan.

I arrived at the Gallery a little early so I decided to take pictures, as usual. Here's the outside of the Gallery which was accepted by President Roosevelt in 1941. Most of the original collection was donated by Andrew Mellon who was a financier and lived in the city. He didn't care for modern art so the West building, the original building, doesn't house any modern art. The building was designed by John Russell Pope who also designed the Jefferson Memorial. He was very fond of the Pantheon in Rome, as was Jefferson, so many buildings were modeled after it.

I also took some photos of some French sculptures - couldn't leave out les français!! We waited for the professor in the Rotunda so I took photos of the fountain with Mercury. Our class is very lucky to have two professors - one is Dr. Donatella Melucci from Taranta, Italy, and the other is Signora Laura Vinti from Napoli e Roma. We met the latter at the Gallery. She brought along her two daughters and her mother - all who spoke Italian. The last picture is of the group - from left Maria (student), Signora e sua madre Silvia (back), Noami e Tullia (front), Josh, and Olga (students). Fortunately, I was taking the picture so I wasn't in it. Marie, another student, had already left.

We also saw the Beffi Triptych which is on loan from L'Aquila, Italy, which is where President Obama was this past week. There was a terrible earthquake there earlier this year. The triptych escaped damage and was offered for display at the Gallery until Labor day as a gesture of gratitude to the US which was one of the first countries to offer assistance. Unfortunately, the window behind the photographer is shining on the glass. All photos were taken without flash!! Si diverta!! Ciao!

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