Going to Whitechapel was quite a culture shock. I've never been in an area that was very Muslim/ethnic before, and it was interesting to see all of the fabric shops in the area. Although I personally do not lust for these kinds of unique designs, I'm always appreciative to see it all. At Whitechapel, Guernica and the round table of information in the same room really fascinated me. I sat there for the remainder of our time there because there was so much fun facts on people's political reactions to the G20 summit, to the history and responses of Guernica when the tapestry was created. I was exposed to Guernica in my Spanish class back in high school, but I had no idea that Guernica was so influential and had such an impact on people outside of those who were affected by the Spanish Civil War. Looking at it again, it really is such a sign of peace and anti-war sentiment. Who wants to fight when this painting depicts such horrid graphics of war?
National Gallery:
The National Gallery was absolutely stunning from the exterior to the interior, architecturally speaking and from the gorgeous paintings it housed. I loved how the museum walls were all so grand and luxurious feeling, like I was in a Duke or some other type of royalty's home. Salome Receives the Head of John the baptist touched me. One would imagine that a depiction of any Baptist or holy member of the church would be painted in a more saintly way. John the Baptist in this painting seems very mean and angry, while all of the other depictions of him in other paintings around the same room were much nicer. The woman in the back was also depicted differently in other paintings in the same room: sometimes she's the mother and sometimes sh'es the friend, but they were all not as ghostly. It feels that the artist Caravaggio had a very strong distaste for this scene and everyone in the portrait was painted unfavorably.
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