olgatea

Этим летом я побывала в Лондонской галерее, и она произвела на меня неизгладимое впечатление. Прежде всего она бесплатна для посетителей. Иногда в её залах звучит живая музыка. Там есть кафе, где можно подкрепиться вкусной выпечкой. А также есть интернет-кафе, где я я ела песочную корзиночку с малиной и с ревенем, пила очень вкусный кофе и листала коллекцию картин на экране. Там же я зарегистрировалась на рассылку из галереи, которая шлёт мне теперь регулярно сообщения о том, что там новенького. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ Кому как не мне самой расцветить мою скучную почту. Вот в сентябре благодаря этой самой рассылке она была украшена подсолнухами Гогена, а октябрьская тема у них из мифологии- про Одиссея. Словом, не нарадуюсь и опять хочу туда.
Единственное о чём жалею, что не успела сходить в галерею с деткой. У них две интересные программы для детей. Одна из них носит название "Фестиваль света" http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk//upload/pdf/diwali.pdf, другая про животных, имена которых входят в 12летний цикл китайского календаря.

Фестиваль света- это картины западно-европейских мастеров. Выбраны 7 залов, в каждом из которых предлагается посмотреть на 2 картины, в числе которых шедевры Леонардо Да Винчи и Ван Гога. Начинается экскурсия в зале 62, заканчивается в 44ом. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk//upload/pdf/diwali.pdf

На первой картине изображены 12 учеников Исуса Христа в момент, когда по воле Христа на них сошёл святой дух(белая голубка видна в лучах света) и свет его дал им способность понимать разные языки. Они видят языки пламени над своими головами. Люди разных национальностей обнаруживают, что им понятен язык каждого из них,стоящего рядом. Один из них касается пальцем щеки в знак удивления. Религиозный символ вспыхнувшего пламени пришёл к нам из древности. Агни, бог огня, изображённый на другой картине, один из наиболее значимых ведических божеств и занимает центральное место в ритуалах Hindu. Священный Upanishads, или то, что мы называем душой, описывается как маленькое пламя. Так же и христиане носят внутри бренной оболочки свет своей веры, символ которой горящая свеча.
Дальше ещё немножко без перевода, просто сохраню для себя, чтобы сводить детку в галерею летом и показать ей все эти картины:
62
It is dawn, and this gloomy, barren landscape is about to be flooded
with warm rosy light. Throughout the long night, the central figure
of Christ has been at prayer while his friends sleep. Knowing that he
will soon be arrested and executed, Christ asks for strength to accept his
fate. As an angel appears to greet him, the sun lights up the hilltop town
in the distance, reminding Christians that Jesus will triumph over darkness
and conquer death through his resurrection.

This is a painting about hope and the promise of a new day. In various
traditions, people look to the light of the rising sun as a symbol of lifegiving
energy. For many Hindus, sunrise is a time for prayer and for making
a gesture of thanksgiving to the sun. In early Christian times, Christ was
associated with the pagan sun god; he is celebrated as the ‘light of the
world’, sent to dispel the darkness and to rise again after his death.

16 зал
In religious symbolism, light is strongly connected to our ability to see:
sacred texts use the theme of blindness to describe those who are spiritually
lost, or risk taking the wrong path in life. Recovering sight is associated
with ‘seeing the light’ and spiritual awakening. Vision plays a particularly
important role in Hinduism: viewing the image of a deity (darshan) is a
significant element of worship in the home and temple. In Hindu art, the
gods are vividly depicted in colourful physical forms.

In contrast, Christian artists developed ways to represent God without
form: in this painting, divine presence is suggested by light alone. Sunlight
floods into a simple home, falling on the eyes of the elderly man with
his back to the window. According to the story, God has tested Tobit by
making him blind. Later, once Tobit had proved his strong faith and good
conduct, his blindness was healed. Light and sight represent powerful
symbols of guidance and salvation.
25
At the centre of this painting, caught in a radiant beam of light, is a brass
oil lamp. Looking closely, we see that it has burned out, leaving just a wisp
of smoke. The extinguished lamp is a symbol of transience: life can be
snuffed out as easily as a flame. The lamp, along with the other objects
in the picture, reminds viewers that the knowledge, power and wealth
we acquire cannot last forever
For Hindus, there is no finite end to life: existence is a cycle of death and
rebirth. The dance of Lord Shiva, as Nataraja, represents this endless circle
of creation and destruction. In both Hinduism and Christianity, believers
are advised not to get attached to worldly possessions, which are only
temporary. In many cultures and faiths, lamps are kept constantly alight
as a sign of endurance and permanence; this makes a snuffed-out lamp
a very powerful symbol of loss.
30
People of different faiths gain strength from meditation and quiet
contemplation. The experience of meditation is often described as pure
light entering the body, bringing a feeling of well-being and joy. For many,
it is helpful to focus on a single source of light or container of water, to
calm their thoughts in preparation for deep introspection. This small
painting encourages a similar way of looking – it stills our mind and asks
us to appreciate the beauty of sunlight falling on water, and the simplicity
of a rose resting on a silver plate.
Light bounces off the perfect surfaces in Zurbarán's painting, illuminating
the space around them like a mirror. In Hinduism, the mirror is used as a
metaphor for a human soul that radiates the light of goodness and purity.
Mirrors, vessels and light are also used in Christian descriptions of the
Virgin Mary: her purity is compared to a ray of light passing through glass.
34
This dark room is lit by a single flickering candle, barely visible behind the
murky jar of water. The man in red, like a magician, removes air from a
glass container to conduct a simple scientific experiment: inside, a white
bird struggles to survive. While the young girls find this hard to watch,
others react with interest and fascination.
If this family are searching for knowledge, they have found it in the light.
Across cultures, light is an ancient symbol of understanding and intellectual
thought: it is the opposite of ignorance, or darkness. Almost universally, the
dark is considered to be frightening and sinister, associated with things we
cannot understand. Light is said to conquer darkness and to bring order out
of chaos. In this painting, the candlelight suggests the spread of knowledge:
it illuminates the family’s minds. But do the ghostly shadows suggest that
science cannot explain everything?
44
The arrival of the electric light bulb transformed the modern world. Colours
appeared more vibrant and the night was more dazzling, compared to life
in candlelight or gaslight. To capture the movement and reflections in this
painting, the artist experimented with new ways of adding thick paint,
fascinated by the different effects of light. For many, this new bright light
was a symbol of progress and excitement for the future.
Today, during the festival of Diwali, city streets across the world are decorated
with brightly coloured lights. Diwali celebrates the victory of light over
darkness, and remembers the epic story of the Ramayana: to welcome the
triumphant return of Lord Rama from his battle with the demon-king Ravana,
the people of Ayodhya set earthen oil lamps (diyas) across their kingdom.
Living in a floodlit world, it is easy to lose our sensitivity to the rich
symbolism of light – from hope to purity, knowledge and joy – that
has inspired great works of art worldwide.