Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Philadelphia

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Cathedral of Utrecht by Jan van Goyen)

    Jan van Goyen was a busy artist in his lifetime with 1,200 paintings and over 1,000 drawings to his name, with six of his paintings in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This oil painting was painted in 1646, a few years before van Goyen was forced to sell all of his paintings and artworks to pay off debts.

    St. Martin’s Cathedral, or Utrecht Cathedral, was intact when it was painted by Jan van Goyen, but the nave collapsed during a storm in 1674. The authorities never quite got round to rebuilding it, so the bell tower is still separated from the remaining section of the building. The painting was given to the museum as part of the John G. Johnson collection in 1917.

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Francis I by Joos van Cleve)

    It seems a strange quirk of history that this important painting of King Francis I of France by Joos van Cleve has ended up in Philadelphia, with the painting of his wife now in Austria. His wife is Eleanor of Austria and Queen of France, who was once nearly married to King Henry VIII, but the English King decided to marry her aunt instead, Catherine of Aragon.

    It’s not known exactly why this painting, and that of King Francis I’s wife, was undertaken, but it’s possible it was to mark the marriage, which was his second. The painting ended up in the private collection of John G Johnson, a local lawyer who later gave all of his artworks to the museum. I’d be intrigued to know where the painting was held between when it was created in 1532 or 1533 and when Johnson purchased it, but I have no idea how I’d find that out.

    Regardless of where it has been, I thought it was historically interesting, although the museum has a rather more crafted and elegant description of the painting:

    “Francis is strongly illuminated from the right so that his body casts a strong shadow behind him, securely locating his form in space. Similarly, his hands are modeled with exquisite attention to the way that light falls across them and to their location in front of Francis’s body. This heightened spatial illusionism is challenged by the ornate elements of the king’s richly decorated and bejeweled costume, which is painted almost like a flat enameled surface. Unlike Francis’s elaborate costume of state, Joos did not idealize his face and even emphasized its more homely aspects. Indeed, his large, coarse features and sly expression contrast with the formality of his dress and betray the man behind the head of state.”

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Virgin and Child by Lorenzo Costa)

    This is an oil painting by Lorenzo Costa from around 1490, called Virgin and Child. I pondered about this as I couldn’t work out at the time why it seemed familiar. I have now resolved the issue, this was issued as a Christmas stamp in the United States in 2001 and they printed 800 million of them.

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Punishment Area – Cellblock 13)

    This doesn’t look as frightening as I’m sure that it once did, but it was the toughest area of the prison and was used as a punishment block. It was also known as ‘the Hole’ and ‘Klondike’ and there were ten cells which were mostly without light. Although the walls between the cells are no longer present, it’s possible to see where they were once located.

    This appears to be the only cell which remains standing with its walls intact, with the area being closed down in 1959 due to concerns about the conditions here. It was then used for storage until 1970 and then fell into disrepair. It’s said that this is one of the areas of the prison where hauntings are noted…..

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Appearance in Films)

    The impressive backdrop of Eastern State Penitentiary has appeared in numerous films. I didn’t know this, but the above sign in the prison noted that the below films have sections filmed there:

    (i) 12 Monkeys

    (ii) Transformers 2 : Revenge of the Fallen

    (iii) Return to Paradise

    (iv) Outside the Wall

    The last film is perhaps one of the most interesting (not that I’ve actually seen the film) as it was filmed when the prison was still in use.

  • Philadelphia – Mütter Museum

    I don’t have any internal photos from this museum as they’re not allowed due to the content of what is displayed. The museum, which term themselves as “disturbingly informative”, has medical related exhibits and is run by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

    The museum, which isn’t that large in physical size, was busy as it was Easter week and many parents thought that the content was appropriate for their children. On the no photographs policy, this was well enforced and there was a threat that anyone who tried would be asked to leave, and I didn’t see anyone try. Which was disappointing, I like watching things like that.

    The museum was founded in the 1860s following the sizeable donations of medical specimens and apparatus by Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter, after whom the museum is named. It opened in its original location in 1863 and moved to a larger site in 1909 and it remains there today.

    The museum was relatively cramped, primarily due to the number of visitors, and it was difficult to see some items. There was an interesting exhibition on the American Civil War and how injured troops were helped at the time on the battlefield. There wasn’t much opportunity for anaesthetic and there were many amputations which had to take place in the field. There are also some bullets on display which had been extracted from numerous unfortunate soldiers.

    I wasn’t entirely engaged with the main part of the collection, it seemed to be made a little sensational, especially with how proud the museum is of calling itself “disturbing”. I’m not entirely sure that medical oddities should ever be disturbing, they’re just different.

    On display there were a large number of skulls, wax training models for medical students, a lady who was made of ‘soap’ (a burial found in the city in 1875 where certain chemical reactions had taken place), slices from Albert Einstein’s brain and a number of foetuses which hadn’t made it through to birth.

    The above photo (which is from the museum, I didn’t breach the no photography rule) shows one of the wet specimens the museum has. They have 1,300 wet specimens in their collection, and interestingly they’re still adding to this, a reminder that this is an active scientific resource as well as a museum.

    To be fair to the museum, they also say that they exist to “appreciate the mysteries and beauty of the human body while understanding the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease”, which does feel rather more positive. I gained admission with my Philadelphia Pass, but otherwise museum entry is $18.

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Mahabalipooram by Edward Lear)

    This artwok was Painted by Edward Lear, the English artist known for his literary nonsense (there are some politicians know for the same reason). This ancient temple site is on the Bay of Bengal in the Indian province of Madras and Lear visited here between 1873 and 1875. The above painting was created in 1881 when the artist was living in France.

    The painting was acquired for the museum using the John Howard McFadden jr. fund

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Exercise Yard)

    All of the ground floor cells at Eastern State Penitentiary were originally linked to a private exercise yard. Prisoners could access this for 30 minutes twice a day, although otherwise they had to remain in their cell. Eventually this policy fell out of favour and the exercise yards were either repurposed or demolished.

    This exercise yard is one of the very few which has survived with its original walls, solely because it was later used as a bathroom for the neighbouring exercise yard. The doors to the exercise yard are still though visible at the rear of most cells as they were just blocked off.

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (State of Ruin)

    The decision to leave the Eastern State Penitentiary in a state of ruin was deliberate, as it was left for two decades and some of its copper and valuables were stolen over the years. When a decision was made to turn it into a museum the site was cleared down, primarily of trees which had started to take over the buildings, but it was felt that repairing the damage wouldn’t be authentic.

    This has left the prison in a state of ruin in parts, although efforts are made to try to minimise the decay and some sections have been secured to ensure their preservation.

     

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Identity Control)

    In some of the cells at the Eastern State Penitentiary there are art installations of various different kinds. Created by local artist Tyler Held, this is perhaps one of the most ambitious, as it involved getting an entire car into the cell. The car has been stripped down of any identity, which is the purpose behind the installation, it’s to show that prison life can strip the individual of their identity and individuality.