DAY OFF IN PITTSBURGH

...and of course I went to museums. Beginning to see a pattern here? We had the day off in Pittsburgh, and I took a cab to 'The Mattress Factory Museum'. It features room-size installation art...meaning the entire room IS the art piece, and you're in it. (I pictured my favorite rooms). The rest were pitch black, and you only saw the art creation once you sat long enough for your eyes to adjust. Since I went alone, I was too chicken to sit in the dark...so I missed half the museum!

Since I felt so cheated, I had to head somewhere else. I found out about an exhibit of Vatican relics and artifacts, called 'Vatican Splendors: A Journey through Faith and Art'. It was SPLENDID! The pieces have never been out of the Vatican before, and it is traveling as a very limited engagement in the States. It was emotional, I cried several times. It takes you through Vatican history from the very beginning until now...with everything from Vatican art, sculptures, jewelry and clothes, to actual BONES of saints to look at. Of the many that there were, the Jesus painting I posted below spoke to me the loudest...i caught my breath when I saw it. The expression on his face is devastating and scary. To see it up close in a darkened room was memorable.

That sort of experience makes me calm about mortality...as I wandered through the rooms I kept thinking what a pleasure it is just to be part of our human race. I felt driven about life and purpose...to hear that Michelangelo created the David, Pieta and the Sistine Chapel ceiling by his mid THIRTIES-we all have our own contribution, even if it's recognized only later in retrospect like those countless people who helped build the Vatican and the beautiful art collection at it's core.

I then got caught in the rain, saw old friends, and a movie before ending up back on the bus. Show tomorrow in downtown!! Can't wait to see you PA fans.

LINKS TO PLACE I VISITED:

Mattress Factory Museum............http://www.mattress.org/

Vatican Splendors..........................http://www.vaticansplendors.com/