Sunday, July 6, 2014

Visit to the Museum of Fine Arts

I visited the Museum of Fine Arts on Thursday, July 3. Two special exhibits drew me there. The first was the Magna Carta. No pictures were allowed for that exhibit. The second was the quilt exhibit.

The image below is similar to what I saw. There were several copies of the original Magna Carta written and signed by King John (of Robin Hood fame) in 1215.This one is at the British Public Library. The one that I saw is from a church in England. It is only one side of a piece of paper that is maybe 12 inches by 12 inches or smaller. I think it was in Latin--not a language I could read. The Magna Carta is the first time in history that citizens of a government had stood up and demanded their rights. King John was forced to sign this and acknowledge that there were personal rights that a government had to respect. It set the stage for the Declaration of Independence more than 500 years later.

It was such a privilege to stand in front of this amazing document that has had such an impact on history. Even though I couldn't read it, I knew the powerful words and messages that it contained.

 The rest of the exhibit contained objects from several local historical societies, mostly centered on the American Revolution. Artifacts such as the liberty bowl by Paul Revere, a political cartoon with a banner that read "Magna Carta" and a talk by JFK in which he referenced the Magna Carta and more are all there. Well worth your time and money to see.

I was not as impressed with the quilt exhibit, but that was due to my own personal preference rather than anything with the exhibit itself. I like beautiful quilts that show artistic flair. The quilts in this exhibit were especially chosen for their eye-popping use of color, some of which I liked and some that I didn't like so much. Here is a sampling:





This was one of my favorites--it is a great optical illusion of 3D blocks

Another fun optical illusion
This was another favorite. It was made by an African American woman in the 1940s who used color to celebrate her freedom and confidence.

2 comments:

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

Thanks for reminding me about the Magna Carta. I descend from King John, and would like to see it. I'm disappointed to learn it is a copy, but excited that the King's signature is real. The quilt exhibit isn't what I expected either, but I'm happy to see a nice example of Hawaiian quilting. I learned how to do this in Honolulu last year.

Lori Lyn said...

They don't talk about an original--only copies. My guess is that several copies were made and signed--one for King John and the others for some of the other men to remind him of what he agreed to. I'm not sure there was really an "original". Cool that you are descended from King John