There are three floors in the museum featuring various works. We spent our time in the galleries on the second floor. Since we had limited time at the museum, we each picked a gallery to visit. I am a fan of European art from the 1400s through the 1800s and I picked the Baroque Gallery. Other galleries chosen were the Egypt Gallery and the Armor Gallery.
We found several Religious and Mythological pieces in the Baroque Gallery. I was delighted to find a wonderful piece from one of my favorite masters, Peter Paul Rubens. The artwork was entitled Diana and Her Nymphs Departing for the Hunt. The write up next to the piece explained how Diana was the goddess of Hunting as well as Virtue. Diana wore a cloth the looked to be made from tiger’s skin. An intricately painted satyr was attacking one of her nymphs, supposedly representing the nymphs virtue. I was also impressed with several paintings by Nicolas Poussin. While discussing one of his paintings entitled The Holy Family on the Steps, we explained the use of light in paintings to the children. In this particular painting the Holy Family’s clothing is painted in vivid colors while the rest of painting is painted with grey, darker hues. We were also introduced to several Dutch painters, such as Frans Hals, and Italian artists. There is a haunting painting of Samson and Delilah by Italian artist Gerrit van Honthorst.
The most impressive piece in the armor gallery is a full suit of armor for both a man and his horse. One tends to forget that the horses needed to be protected in battle as well. This piece sits in the middle of the gallery. It is decorated with etchings in the metal armor. The combined weight of the armor for both the man and his horse is about 115 pounds. This gallery also contains several suits of different types of armor. Even some armor made for a child. Several weapons including intricately decorated swords are also on display.
In the Egypt gallery we were drawn to the Coffin of Bakenmut. This is the elaborately decorated coffin has every inch of the surface covered religious scenes, protective spells, and magic symbols. The decoration on the inside of the coffin features two great Kings of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty. Near the top is Tuthmosis III, a strong military pharaoh, who lived 500 years before Bakenmut. The scene below features two back-to-back seated images of Amenhotep I, regarded as the patron of the Theban cemetery and worshiped as a local god there.
The museum grounds are beautiful and you should plan some time to walk around Circle Park in the back of the museum. There you will find a beautiful fountain and several statues. On a Saturday afternoon you will see several wedding parties waiting to get their pictures taken in this lovely location.