Another busy couple days here. On Sunday I wandered over to the British Museum (again) to see the exhibit on Renaissance sketches. Rather than presenting the finished and famous pieces of work from various artists, the museum showed the working process that each artist went through and the evolution of 15th and 16th century art. No pictures were allowed, however, it would be impossible to capture the essence of the exhibit anyway. Scrap papers, notebooks and rough drafts of da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, and more were available for the most detailed examination, inches from your nose if you so liked.
Having booked tickets to Wales for Thursday, I wandered up toward Euston Station to pick them up; it just so happens that the Royal British Library is only a block from the station. On permanent display are some of the literary and printed treasures of British history: the earliest surviving copy of Beowulf (11th century); Shakespeare's First Folio; two of the four surviving copies of the 1215 Magna Carta; Beethoven's working composition for his Violin Sonata op. 30 no. 3.
Today, after a good lecture on the conditions which precipitated World War I, the class met at the Imperial War Museum. The rather unusual building houses an armory of tanks, planes, artillery, and military-related paraphernalia from the early 20th century; it is also a tremendously depressing and rage-inducing place. The holocaust exhibit is perhaps one of the most vivid and real experiences I've attended. Again, there is very little I can say or show that captures what it is really like to be there. I think that I can safely say, in tempered, gentle vocabulary, that I hate Nazis.
On a final note, I saw a nice play the other night, After the Dance by Terence Rattigan. I would recommend it.
I am now off to take a shower as I just ran through Hyde Park and am very sweaty.
Cheers
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