Getty Center
Sepulveda Pass
November 15, 2014
We took Margaret to see the special exhibition at the Getty, of tapestries and related paintings by Peter Paul Rubens. The tapestries are part of a larger set celebrating the Triumph of the Eucharist, commissioned in the 1620s by the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, the ruler of the Spanish Netherlands. The tapestries were woven in Belgium and installed in the Convent of the Poor Clares in Madrid, an institution closely associated with the Habsburg monarchy. We first learned about the exhibition through a preview piece Joyful Weaving of Art in the Los Angeles Times. After it opened there was a longer review in the Times, Wonders Unfurl, as part of an article which also looked at a tapestry exhibit in New York.
The tapestries are of monumental size. Next to them were paintings on oak panels that Rubens had made as models from which the weavers could work. It was interesting to note that the paintings are mirror images of the tapestries. The weavers were working from the back side of the tapestries and this reversal of the pattern image made their work easier. Although the colors have faded slightly with time, the tapestries still show remarkable shadings of detail.
The overall spirit of the series is triumphalist, very much in keeping with the Counter Reformation period in which they were made. They are devotional works and celebrate one of the central mysteries of Catholic Christianity, the sacrament of the Eucharist. Some panels are allegorical, such as the victory of Truth over Heresy. Other panels illustrate scriptural stories which Catholics see as prefiguring the Eucharist, such as the sacrifice offered by Melchizedek for Abraham, and the gathering of manna in the desert.
After touring the special exhibition we went over to another building to see a Rubens painting in the permanent collection, of the Caledonian boar hunt. We strolled through that gallery and looked at other period paintings, mainly by Flemish artists. Margaret enjoyed a Rembrandt self portrait in which the artist is laughing.
Admission to the museum is free, but parking costs $15. The parking system has been changed so that one pays on leaving, rather than entering.
We ate at the museum café. A nice feature is that there are half a dozen different stations, so one can select from a variety of choices. We each enjoyed Mexican food; Margaret had a fruit salad from the grab and go section.
We enjoyed the tapestries and related panels a great deal. Margaret was not particularly interested in them. Her preferences run more to historical and anthropological museums, and less toward art. After the museum visit she was very interested to hear about our trip to Ontario last week, where we met three of her cousins. They had asked to be remembered to her, and she enjoyed hearing about our dinner with them. After we left the Getty we met up with Kathleen for coffee and showed both Margaret and Kathleen our slides from Brampton and Toronto. We gave Margaret a framed photo of Meredith with the cousins which she was very pleased to have.