Sculpture
My parents attended the Society of Experimental Test Pilots' annual symposium in Anaheim this week. Since they had an extra night's stay at their hotel after the symposium ended, they came up to see us. We had brunch at Firefly in South Pasadena, where I had a really great dish of shrimp over grits.
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clynne had to work from 3-8 today, so she went back home while my parents and I headed off to the Getty.
One of the special exhibits there was of portrait sculpture by Bernini. It was amazing to see up close. I was especially impressed by his skill in rendering cloth out of marble. The verisimilitude of the busts was such that it was one of those moments where I was really struck with the "reality" of people living in the past. It was also interesting from a historical perspective, seeing these lifesize renderings of various Popes, Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIV, etc. The period of roughly 1492-1648 is one of my favorites to study, and I was intrigued by the claim that the Baroque style in representational art was promoted by the Church as a means of furthering the Counter-Reformation.
All in all it was a great day with them. And as a bonus, our house is much cleaner as a result of us preparing for them.