Today we had two stops on our art education tour. The first was Trinity College, reputed to be one of the best universities in the world. Its old library is the home of the Book of Kells and several other medieval manuscripts as part of the collection of over 200,000 old and rare books. The artwork on the old manuscripts is exquisite and when you see how it was done with quill pens and little brushes of martin fur you are more impressed. There is a good deal of information along the way to distract you from the fact that you are part of a large herd moving slowly through a tight space to the ultimate goal: The Book of Kells. My favorite distraction were some personal poems written by an Irish monk in 9th century Switzerland.
Pangur Ban
I and Pangur Ban my cat
‘Tis like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.
Better far than prise of men
‘Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will
He too plies his simple skill
Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur’s way
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.
‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
‘Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.
Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.
The Scribe
A hedge of trees surrounds me
A blackbird sings sweetly;
Above my well-ruled book
The birds sing far and wide.
In a green cloak of leafy branches
The cuckoo sings her lovely chant;
Protect me, Lord, on Judgement Day
Happily I write beneath the trees.
Our second stop was the Irish National Gallery where we discovered a wonderful artist, new to us. Jack B. Yeats was the younger brother of W.B. Yeats. Jack was a novelist, playwright, sculptor, comic satirist, and accomplished fine artist. We saw a three room exhibiton of his work, a sample of which is shown below. This man began painting before World War I and painted into the 1950’s. During that time his style changed from realistic to very expressionistic. What a find! I particularly draw your attention to Grief, a painting lamenting war.
We also saw many fine masterworks at the gallery. They house a recently discovered Cqaravaggio, The Taking of Christ. It was known through references long ago, but was assumed lost. It was found hanging on a monastery wall in Ireland! The monks loaned it to the National Gallery. We also saw a beautiful Monet that had been cleaned recently. The colors were so bright and clear it looked like he just painted it. There were many others too numerous to mention.
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