Art Talk: 5 New Friends at NGA

A couple of weeks ago I did a post about my old friends at the National Gallery of Art in DC. I really do feel so at home and love to go see my "friends" at the gallery.

This past trip I made it a point to make some new friends too.

Reliquary Chasse

I am currently taking a Art history class and just finished studying medieval art. I found the gallery's old piece- Reliquary Chasse from 1175/1180 France.

The plaque says:

This chalice, a rare treasure from the Middle Ages, once held sacramental wine for the Mass. Its creation brought two great civilizations together. The cup was carved from a block of the semiprecious stone sardonyx in the ancient Greco-Roman world, probably Alexandria, Egypt, about 100 BC. More than twelve centuries later it was acquired by Abbot Suger, whose goldsmiths fashioned its bejeweled, gold and silver setting.

It was really incredible with all the different materials and textures.

Renaissance Textiles

Both of these tapestries are from the 1500s. The styles are so different it was neat to see them hung right across from each other.

Joan of Arc Series

As I was wandering through the lower gallery I found this incredible series by Louis Maurice Boutet De Monvel, from France that was painted in the early 1900s.

There are five paintings following Joan of Arc. The colors and gold leaf are really incredible.