Lisa's parents come to Washington and see some museums
Lisa writes: The parents and I went to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the National Gallery of Art. The first thing I learned: the National Gallery of Art isn't affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute. Neither is the National Archives. Not that it matters, really, it's just that I'd always assumed they was because ... they're all right next to each other?
Mom took lots of pictures. Here's the Hope Diamond, temporarily out of its white diamond necklace setting. If you hit it with UV light, it glows blood-red for a while afterwards. In 2008, they definitely proved that it was one of the French crown jewels, stolen during the Revolution then recut to disguise its identity. Supposedly lots of people who owned it died (but Wikipedia begs to differ). The second-to-last crazy-old-lady D.C. socialite used to hang it from her dog's collar. When the last owner, Harry Winston (who died of natural causes at 82) donated it to the Smithsonian, he mailed it in a brown paper envelope through the U.S. Post.
Sand crystals cemented by wind and water. Not valuable; just awesome.
600 and 1200 lbs iron meteorites found in Arizona and used as blacksmith's anvils until somebody pointed out to the owner what they were. (A meteorite fell through the roof of a doctor's office in the D.C. area last year. Landed right in an exam room! The startled docs are trying to donate it to the Smithsonian. It's just a little thing -- couple of pounds. But the article I read on it said the pieces would be worth $5000 on the 'meteorite market.' Which explains why the building's owners now have the thing tied up in court.)
Napoleon gave this necklace and diadem to his wife. Am I the only person out there who first learned the word "diadem" from Harry Potter? (Now I see it EVERYWHERE.)
Flawless crystal ball. Also makes me think of Harry Potter.
Black marble columns at the National Gallery of Art. This place is classy.
The only Leonardo da Vinci painting in America, "Ginevra de' Benci." Poor gal. She looks sad. And like maybe she wants some mascara.
The painting is on a wooden board instead of canvas, and he painted both sides. Here's the back. You can see the painting was cropped at some point. Cropped. At least 2 inches off the bottom. Like, to fit a frame because some knucklehead was too cheap to get a new one made. (I'm just speculating about the reason, but I'm pretty confident about the knucklehead.)
Rembrandt self portrait.
Rembrandt portrait of his wife. Poor gal. (This is pretty much what I look like when I first wake up in the morning.)
Rodin's "The Thinker." The thing about Rodin is the guy was incredibly prolific. This is a cool statue, yes, but he made, like, a zillion of them.
Picasso's "The Lovers." Mom saw this and said she approves of it and that he should have made ALL his paintings like this, not the wacky crazy side-ways headed Cyclops of his later years. If only he had listened.
Mom took lots of pictures. Here's the Hope Diamond, temporarily out of its white diamond necklace setting. If you hit it with UV light, it glows blood-red for a while afterwards. In 2008, they definitely proved that it was one of the French crown jewels, stolen during the Revolution then recut to disguise its identity. Supposedly lots of people who owned it died (but Wikipedia begs to differ). The second-to-last crazy-old-lady D.C. socialite used to hang it from her dog's collar. When the last owner, Harry Winston (who died of natural causes at 82) donated it to the Smithsonian, he mailed it in a brown paper envelope through the U.S. Post.
Sand crystals cemented by wind and water. Not valuable; just awesome.
600 and 1200 lbs iron meteorites found in Arizona and used as blacksmith's anvils until somebody pointed out to the owner what they were. (A meteorite fell through the roof of a doctor's office in the D.C. area last year. Landed right in an exam room! The startled docs are trying to donate it to the Smithsonian. It's just a little thing -- couple of pounds. But the article I read on it said the pieces would be worth $5000 on the 'meteorite market.' Which explains why the building's owners now have the thing tied up in court.)
Napoleon gave this necklace and diadem to his wife. Am I the only person out there who first learned the word "diadem" from Harry Potter? (Now I see it EVERYWHERE.)
Flawless crystal ball. Also makes me think of Harry Potter.
Black marble columns at the National Gallery of Art. This place is classy.
The only Leonardo da Vinci painting in America, "Ginevra de' Benci." Poor gal. She looks sad. And like maybe she wants some mascara.
The painting is on a wooden board instead of canvas, and he painted both sides. Here's the back. You can see the painting was cropped at some point. Cropped. At least 2 inches off the bottom. Like, to fit a frame because some knucklehead was too cheap to get a new one made. (I'm just speculating about the reason, but I'm pretty confident about the knucklehead.)
Rembrandt self portrait.
Rembrandt portrait of his wife. Poor gal. (This is pretty much what I look like when I first wake up in the morning.)
Rodin's "The Thinker." The thing about Rodin is the guy was incredibly prolific. This is a cool statue, yes, but he made, like, a zillion of them.
Picasso's "The Lovers." Mom saw this and said she approves of it and that he should have made ALL his paintings like this, not the wacky crazy side-ways headed Cyclops of his later years. If only he had listened.
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