Day Two Of Relaxing In Cincinnati

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A note to Nancy.  I'd love to buy a bigger car but it would have to be a motorhome.  If we do you guys are welcome to come along!

I don't like to blow my family off by any means, but they are all adults and have children and grandchildren.  (Mask falls with a thud).  They all have their activities to do and we are not only on a mission to visit everyone but also to enjoy our time on the road seeing new things.

Day two took us to the Cincinnati Art Gallery.  When I hear the name Cincinnati I just don't see it as a huge art and history center.  In 2021, USA Today rated it in the top ten of art museums in the country.  Art and history for me are tops and you just can never go wrong.  In 2014 we visited a small museum located in a house in the small town of Harmony, WI.  We spent two hours there.  So much to learn and see.

This day we had actually gone back to finish what we had seen day one.  It was well worth it.  As we walked in we saw the gift shop.  Always good to see what they have and how we can donate to the museum.  That moment was a bit disheartening when an old bad behind the counter said hello and welcome followed by, "maybe we should check your partners pockets".  What?  Racism and prejudice will always be as long as there are human beings on the planet.

A very nice second story lobby shot to start this off.  The art museum was built in 1887 and a wing was added in 19 philanthropist Jacob G. Schmidlapp in memory of his daughter who, along with his wife, had died in a train crash in February 1900.  Since then five wings have been added and that is why it is a two-day visit.

Anne Seymour Dammer was an 18th century sculpture, again a woman who found it difficult to compete in the world of art.   She was also a actor, writer and director.  This is what we have from anytime prior to 1839 and the advent of photography.  We have to rely on the artist's viewpoint be it painting, sculpture or literature.  It is interesting to see how people may have actually lived in the past.  We found that very true with the giant daily life paintings in the El Prado in Spain dating back to 1500.  

Like any good art museum, you need to have a lot of wood and creaking floors.  The European art gallery is one that is hard to match.  The painting descriptions are somewhat in depth and give you enough information to do further investigation.  Most artists, sculptures and their subjects.  Fascinating to read about a person's life centuries later.  Looking at some of the portraits you can discover who the person was and how they lived.

Saint Jeronimo painted by Phillipe de Champaigne in the early 17th century.  I chose Saint Jerome for my confirmation name.  Saint Jerome lived in the 4th century and was the first to translate the bible into Latin.  He also hung around the catacombs.  In his writing he said, "horror ubique animos, simui ipsa slentia terrent" or "fear is everywhere but the silence is deafening".  I remember looking through books of the saints and chose him based on the painting.  

I remember going to a high school spelling bee when I was 15.  A couple of students from my high school and three nuns in a van.  We had to pray to St. Patrick so that we would have green lights all the way.  There is a saint for everything.  Too funny.

Catrina Van Hemessan was from the Netherlands.  Women painters were almost unheard of in the 16th century.  Her father created minatures for the queen of Hungary.  He had a workshop and Catrina would go there daily and work on her technique.  This was an altar piece that hung in Monestary of Saint Jerome in Santa Ana depicting the old and new testament.

Antonio del Ceraiolo was an Italian painter.  His last name, ceraiolo, was a nickname taken from his father's profession as a candlemaker (cera/wax).  The painting depicts Madonna and child with St. John the Baptist sitting next to them.

A ghar derasar is a personal Asian shrine in the home, also called a Jain house, after the god Jani. Jainism teaches that the path to enlightenment is through nonviolence and reducing harm to living things including plans and animals.

I really enjoyed this painting, The Midnight Mass.  I was raised in a very strict Catholic home.  We said the rosary after dinner every night, never ate meat on Fridays regardless of Lent or not.  I went to Catholic schools through the fourth semester in university.  It was a lot of praying.  We would always attend midnight mass.  We lived close by the church and after mass we would go to my Aunt Ann's house.  She lived two blocks from us.  She had been married for a year before divorcing her abusive husband.  She had my grandparents move in with her and she took care of them until they died some 25 years later.  She was a wonderful person and would always invite me to her house as an escape from the chaos at home.  She'd make tuna casserole and tapioca.  She had the idea that I loved tapioca.  I hated it but ate it with a smile anyway.  So after midnight mass, she would give us all a small glass of sherry along with fruit cake, Christmas cookies and homemade fudge along with aachener printer (gingerbread).   Good times, and always with snow.  

Another view of the lobby from the second floor.

We could have easily spent another day at the gallery.  The grounds are well-groomed and there is also modern sculpture outside.  

Across from the gallery is Eden Park.  It has a huge tower that is called a stand pipe.  All new to me.   Built in 1894 it stands 52 meters tall.  It provided water pressure to the city but was obsolete after only 20 years when new ways were found to pump water throughout the city.

The park is filled with geese and I know how some Canadians feel about them.  They are mean little shits and wouldn't let me cross the sidewalk.  I tried to reason with them but to no avail.

Well, I'll keep working on the blog.  I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to post. We're looking forward to some special travelers in a few weeks and after that we should be on our way to Quartzsite.