when the cats away the mice will play

here's what you've all been waiting for!

a day in the national gallery

On my second trip to the national gallery of Ireland I was on a mission. To sit in awe of a great master and a great painting. After traipsing about Dublin going from national archives to national library I decided to chance it and see if the national gallery was still open, to my everlasting joy I found I had arrived at the doors with half an hour to spare so I stormed through the gallery up the stairs and past the impressionist exhibit to find this, "The taking of Christ" by Caravaggio. I can tell you it was wonderful, the painting like many you'll find once you are in their actual presence, is quite large, dominating the wall it rests on . What I love about the artist is his grasp of the dramatic, have you really visualised what it must have been like as Christ was betrayed that night? Would you be able to come up with something so passionate as the painting before you? The bold lighting and his inherent understanding of movement, among many other reasons, I hope make you appreciate this moving masterpiece.( I did till it was obvious that the stoic gallery staff were waiting for me.) That was the fantastic end to my stay in Ireland this summer.