The National Gallery



Long Grass with Butterflies
File:The Concert (1627) by Hendrick ter Brugghen.jpg
The Concert
On the sacred Feast of the Epiphany we celebrated with the Eastern Churches who mark Christmas at this time.  It is a feast of joyful promise marking the manifestations of God among us in Jesus in real time: The visitation of the wise men from the East, the Baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast of Cana. This year we were blessed to attend Mass with Sally , Maureen's cousin, at the prayerful and lively parish of  Our Lady of Victories, Kensington after a meal with John at High Street Kensington.    


Thames below Westminster

Next morning Leicester Square tube station was our alighting point for a walk around Trafalgar Square and visit to the National Gallery.  Therein is an extensive collection of European and British paintings from pre-Renaissance until the late 19th Century.  Like all large galleries it is somewhat overwhelming and impossible to appreciate in one visit.  Hence we grazed and spent more time with paintings that spoke to us somehow.  For Mark standouts among so many were Botticelli Venus and Mars, and Mystical Nativity, Gerard Van Honthorst Christ before the High Priest , Monet's Thames Below Westminster, Van Gogh's Long Grass with Butterflies and Hendrick ter Brugghen's The Concert.   

 I will spare you the thesis on why they spoke to me but have lifted the images here so you may enjoy!
Venus and Mars
File:Gerard van Honthorst - Christ before the High Priest - WGA11650.jpg
Christ before High Priest

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