Passionate Perseverance: the national gallery of art...grizwald family style

Today was a very rainy day here in Northern VA. It was badly needed so none of us were really upset to be inside. Jonathan is taking a summer course on Western Civ and needed to head down to the National Gallery of Art to study some Renaissance Art for one of his projects. So Jerry decided this morning that we should all go.

Spontaneous...that's how we roll baby! So after gathering everything we needed for a day away with Courtney, we were on our way 90 minutes later. Yep, spontaneous and quick as a bunny... that's the Lenaburg way!

Anyhoo, after getting turned around and twisted backwards more than once with the lovely city streets of our Nation's Capital, we found a magic parking spot and walked three blocks in the pouring rain, arriving at our destination a little soggy and so happy to be back indoors. We gathered our wits about us and headed off to the Renaissance wing.

Jonathan helps Miss Courtney by keeping the curls out of her eyes so she can see all the beautiful paintings. As you can see, she is not a fan of anyone touching her head, even her beloved big brother. Can you say annoyed?? LOL!!

Court was so funny. She kept yelling while we were going through each gallery room loving the echo she could produce. Her favorite room was the sculpture garden because we kept stopping, posing and laughing so she laughed too.

This was one of my favorites. Jonathan loved this painting, probably because it reminded him of himself in class!

So pose he did. I forgot to write down the name of the painting or the artist. Sorry. It had quite a bold palette with deep blue and reds that didn't translate so well on the photo. I know it was painted in the 17th century.

This was my favorite painting of the day. I could sit and look at this masterpiece by Raphael all day. The colors were magnificent and the message of the painting even more powerful.

Painted in central Italy in 1510, The Alba Madonna depicts the the Madonna and the bay Jesus with his cousin John the Baptist. What is so moving about this painting is that it shows Jesus full understanding of his mission as John hands him the cross. I had tears in my eyes, it was so compelling. You see Mary looking at the cross and she is so pensive. She knew.

That fact that Raphael chose to depict this with small children makes it even more stunning to me, especially Jesus' facial expression. Determined is the word that comes to mind. He knew what was coming and He was as ready as one could be.

The boys had a good time with the statues of the Greek Gods. Here is Hermes with his two sidekicks, Jerrotadus and Jonathopian. LOL!

At the end of the day Jonathan and I were ready to tango our way home. The Gods were smiling on us by the time we left the Gallery...there was sun shining!!

Jonathopian and Jerrotadus had served them well! If your ever in the Nation's Capital you must stop in and see these stunning treasures.