Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Far East (1368-1644):
For almost 300 years, the Ming dynasty ruled China, hav-
ing reclaimed the country from Genghis Khan and his sons. When Portuguese traders
reached the Orient, they brought back blue-and-white ceramics such as these. They be-
came all the rage, inspiring the creation of both Portuguese tiles and Dutch Delftware.
Writing utensils fill elaborately decorated boxes from Japan. Another type of box was the
ultimate picnic basket—
bento
was the best way to enjoy the Japanese countryside.
In the other wing, look for the art of...
Medieval Europe (500-1500):
While China was thriving and inventing, Europe
was stuck in a thousand-year medieval funk (with the exception of Muslim Arab-ruled
Iberia). Most Europeans from the “Age of Faith” channeled their spirituality into objects
of Christian devotion. A priest on a business trip could pack a portable altarpiece in his
backpack, travel to a remote village that had no church, and deliver a sermon carved in
ivory. In monasteries, the monks with the best penmanship laboriously copied topics (illu-
minated manuscripts) and decorated them with scenes from the text—and wacky doodles
in the margins. These topics were virtual time capsules, preserving the knowledge of
Greece and Rome until it could emerge again, a thousand years later, in the Renaissance.
Renaissance and Baroque Painting (1500-1700):
Around 1500, a cultural re-
volution was taking place—the birth of humanism. Painters saw God in the faces of ordin-
ary people, whether in Domenico Ghirlandaio's fresh-faced maiden, Frans Hals' wrinkled
old woman, or Rembrandt's portrait of an old man, whose crease-lined hands tell the story
of his life.
Louis XIV, XV, XVI (1700-1800):
After the Italian-born Renaissance, Europe's
focus shifted northward to the luxurious court of France, where a new secular culture was
blossoming. In one tapestry, love is in the air (see cupids flying overhead) as Venus frol-
ics in a landscaped garden. Powder-wigged nobles in their palaces enjoyed the luxury of
viewing art like this pagan scene, while relaxing in chairs like the kind you see here. This
furniture, once owned by French kings (and Marie-Antoinette and Madame de Pompa-
dour), is a royal home show. Anything heavy, ornate, and gilded (or that includes curved
legs and animal-clawed feet) is from the time of Louis XIV. The Louis XV style is light-
er and daintier, with Oriental motifs, while furniture from the Louis XVI era is stripped-
down, straight-legged, tapered, and more modern. Listen to find out which clocks still
work.
Romantic to Impressionist Paintings (1700-2000):
Europe ruled the world, and
art became increasingly refined. Young British aristocrats (Thomas Gainsborough por-
trait) traveled Europe on the Grand Tour to see great sights like Venice (Guardi land-
scape). Follow the progression in styles from stormy Romanticism (J. M. W. Turner's
tumultuous shipwreck) to Pre-Raphaelite dreamscapes
(Mirror of Venus)
to Realism's
