Coming of Age as a Traveller

Our first destination this week was to the John Soane Museum. This portrait, done by artist Sir Thomas Lawrence depicts John Soane who was an English architect. The museum showcased many collectables and antiquities that Mr. Soane acquired throughout his travels, highlighting the influence from other cultures such as Greece and Italy. Unlike Lucy from the novel Room with a View, Mr. Soane travelled with purpose while Lucy travels as a tourist.

Day two provided us the opportunity to visit the famous National Gallery Museum. Probably my favorite destination thus far, this museum holds many well known works of art from Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, to 17th century pieces, all the way up to impressionist collections.

One of Sandro Botticelli's painting is titled, "Venus and mars," created around 1485. Commonalities can be seen between Venus and Lucy, and Mars and George. I believe this painting exemplifies the passion George has for Lucy, as he sees the beauty in her.

This painting by Gherardo di Giovanni titled, "The Combat of Love and Chastity," has commonalities to characters in Room with a View. In this art piece, chastity uses a shield against love's arrows, which can be compared to Charlotte shielding Lucy and limiting her from the progressing outside world. In the novel, is becomes clear that Lucy is growing up in a world where she is heavily influenced by what her elders and society want her to act, not by how she is herself.

To wrap up week three, we went to the Tate Britain Museum to view Turners collection of art. This specific painting is titled, "Palestrina-Composition," and I noticed how Turner portrays both the town landscape, as well as the nature scene. Turner takes in his whole scene and does limit what he sees, such as how Lucy takes in her surroundings while as a tourist in Italy. I enjoyed how Turner paints a pathway down the nature section, almost as if its leading to some sort of journey or adventure awaiting its audience.