Well, guys and gals, I finally made it to the Kunsthistorisches today and guess what? The entire wing with the sculpture is closed for renovation for years. What’s the point of getting back the saltcellar when you aren’t going to let people see it? It was okay, though, because I spent about three hours with those paintings, mostly the Italians. I know many of you will wonder why I didn’t spend a lot of time looking at the Breugels and Lucas Cranach and all those guys, especially since I am going to Venice in a few days. Let me put it this way. The first painting I saw when I went into the Italian wing (they have one wing for the Italians and one for the Northern people) was a lovely little portrait of Isabella D’Este, painted by Titian. She looked so sweet, intelligent, rich, and fun I wanted to invite her to a dinner party. There was also a portrait of her by Reubens later which frankly made her look really fat. I don’t think she was really like that; maybe he thought he was doing her a favor. Anyway, I didn’t like it. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about with the Italians versus the Germans. The first painting I saw when I went into the Northern wing was this disgusting martyrdom of some saint where they were pulling out his intestines and wrapping them around and around a pole. It was nauseating. If you want a comparison of the Italians and the Northern artists, just compare those two Isabella D’Este portraits sometime.

Here’s a picture of me in front of the museum, taken by an unsuspecting tourist. Unfortunately you can’t see the museum very well, nor can you see the statue I was trying to get in, underneath a big statue of Maria Theresa sitting there looking all regal. Can you guess who it is from yesterday’s discussion? It’s Mozart’s old friend and imperial librarian, Baron von Swieten. He was a real mensch. Here are some excerpts from Mozart’s letters:

20 April 1782 (to his father)
“Baron von Swieten, to whom I go every Sunday, gave me all the works of Handel and Sebastian Bach to take home with me…”

12 July 1789 (to Michael Puchberg, pathetically begging for money as usual)
“A fortnight ago I sent round a list for subscribers and so far the only name on it is that of Baron von Swieten!”

So, you ask, what were some of my highlights? Well, Orazio Gentileschi was a good painter. There’s a sexy Mary Magdalene (my patron saint) here, and also a wonderful Rest on the Flight to Egypt with Joseph sleeping in a really sacked out upside down way and Mary breastfeeding Jesus, who is staring right at you. I did like the Durer altarpiece of the Trinity, a big Perugino altarpiece, Crespi’s Dream of Joseph, and of course the Caravaggios. My absolute favorite (which I got a poster of) was one of two paintings Correggio did for the Duke of Mantua (of Rigoletto fame). The other painting was sort of gay, with Ganymede being taken away by Zeus' big eagle, but the one I got was Jupiter and Io. I will put a picture of it here. She’s making out with a cloud.


Okay, maybe more than just making out is going on.
Next week I’ll go to the Gemaldegalerie derAkademie der Bildenden and report on Hieronymous Bosch’s Last Judgment! Now that’s a northern guy you can’t help but love.

I have a new link, to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, down below.