The Naval Academy Chapel organ dates back to 1908. The Hutchins Organ Company of Boston, MA built the original instrument. In 1940, the Moeller Organ Company of Hagerstown, MD was contracted to build a larger instrument to support music in the newly enlarged chapel. Through the years, the organ has undergone several enhancements and renovations. Most of these enrichments to the instrument have been made possible through generous gifts of individuals and classes. The current instrument, comprised of both pipe and digital voices, totals 268 ranks and is controlled by two consoles.
The iconic dome and architecture of the Naval Academy Chapel is known throughout the entire Annapolis region as a point of pride in the state capital's spectacular skyline. It is visible throughout the greater Annapolis area and the Naval Academy Yard as a beacon calling midshipmen, alumni, friends, faculty and staff to a point of deeper faith.
The Naval Academy Chapel pulpit has been used by many great preachers in our chaplain corps and beyond. Although the current pulpit was not installed until a renovation in 1943 it is still notable that the renowned pastor and future Chaplain to the US Senate, Peter Marshall, spoke from the previous pulpit in this same location on Sunday December 7th, 1941 - only hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; he was not actually appointed to the position of Chaplain to the US Senate until 1947. He changed the subject of his sermon at the last minute to a subject much more reflective of the realities that were about to transpire as a result of that eminent attack, which ultimately lead to the class of 1942 graduating in 1941 to support the war efforts.
John Paul Jones has been lauded since 1775 as the Father of the US Navy. His influence and leadership were foundational in the establishment of our Navy and in many ways the success of our War of Independence.
The corporal remains of John Paul Jones were interred into the crypt beneath the Naval Academy crypt in 1906 in a ceremony presided over by President Theodore Roosevelt. From the point of his death in 1792 until then John Paul Jones' remains had been in a grave in France, where he died.We recently visited the Crypt and the prominent US Naval Academy Chapel beneath which it is located. The pillars and crypt itself are made of marble from France.
Lorenzo de' Medici, the brilliant, learned, and ruthless head of a wealthy banking family, ruled the Italian city-state of Florence in the Renaissance. This bust may copy a wax statue made to commemorate Lorenzo's survival in 1478, when an assassination plot took the life of his younger brother. The simple costume, with a distinctively Florentine padded and draped headdress, reflects Lorenzo's claim to be merely a respected citizen rather than a de facto prince. Cleaning in recent years (completed 2006) has brought out the original bright reds, warm flesh tones, and a light beard. The brooding face suggests the forceful intelligence behind Lorenzo's power. This haunting likeness may have been molded from his death mask.
Woman Holding a Balance is a superb example of Johannes Vermeer’s exquisite sense of stability and rhythm. A woman dressed in a blue jacket with fur trim stands serenely at a table in a corner of a room. The scales in her right hand are at equilibrium, suggestive of her inner state of mind. A large painting of the Last Judgment, framed in black, hangs on the back wall of the room. A shimmering blue cloth, open boxes, two strands of pearls, and a gold chain lie on the sturdy table. Soft light comes in through the window and illuminates the scene. The woman is so pensive that the viewer almost hesitates to intrude on her quiet moment of contemplation.This short quote seems to summarize why I could never have been an art critic. I think it is a lovely painting, but I don't have that much more to say about it. It is not in the genre of paintings that I enjoy owning. But I love to view them in museums and galleries.
The National Gallery of Art was conceived and given to the people of the United States by Andrew W. Mellon (1855–1937). Mellon was a financier and art collector from Pittsburgh who came to Washington in 1921 to serve as secretary of the treasury. During his years of public service he came to believe that the United States should have a national art museum equal to those of other great nations.
In 1936 Mellon wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt offering to donate his superb art collection for a new museum and to use his own funds to construct a building for its use. With the president’s support, Congress accepted Mellon’s gift, which included a sizable endowment, and established the National Gallery of Art in March 1937. Construction began that year at a site on the National Mall along Constitution Avenue between Fourth and Seventh Street NW, near the foot of Capitol Hill.There is a lot more history on the website. I like to look for photos that display patterns and design. Pattern and design are also important in my landscape photos.
The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Filippino Lippi. It is signed and dated at 1496. It is housed in the Uffizi of Florence.
The panel was painted for the Convent of the San Donato agli Scopeti, in substitution of the one commissioned in 1481 to Leonardo da Vinci, who left it unfinished. In 1529 it was acquired by Cardinal Carlo de' Medici and in 1666 it became part of the Uffizi collection.
Filippino Lippi followed Leonardo's setting, in particular in the central part of the work. Much of its inspiration was clearly derived from Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi, also in the Uffizi: this is evident in the disposition of the characters on the two sides, with the Holy Family portrayed in the centre under. Similarly to Botticelli's work, Filippino also portrayed numerous members of the Medici cadet line, who had adhered to the Savonarolian Republic in the period in which the work was executed. On the left, kneeling and holding with a quadrant, is Pierfrancesco de' Medici, who had died 20 years before. Behind him, standing, are his two sons Giovanni, holding a goblet, and Lorenzo, from whom a page is removing a crown.
The general style is that of Filippino's late career, characterized by a greater care to details and by a nervous rhythm in the forms, influenced by the knowledge of foreign painting schools (as also in the landscape of the background).I realize that this isn't one of my usual landscape photos, but from time to time, I have uploaded photos from museums and will continue to do so. You can see more detail in the photo by clicking on the image. By the way, I majored in Fine Art with an emphasis on Painting and Drawing my first year at the University of Utah. I have a rather extensive background in art history. A further note, this photo was taken with an iPhone 8 plus.
Annapolis National Cemetery
Annapolis National Cemetery is one of the 14 national cemeteries established by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 to accommodate the dead from the American Civil War. The original plot of land was leased, and later purchased, from Judge Nicholas Brewer.
During the Civil War, Annapolis was a Union recruit training center. There was also a parole camp nearby (approximately three miles from what was then the city line) where Union prisoners who had been exchanged for Confederate prisoners were held until they could be returned to their own units. The conditions in the camp were crowded and were not particularly sanitary; many soldiers wound up in one of the army field hospitals at the U.S. Naval Academy and at St. John's College in downtown Annapolis. A large number succumbed to wounds they bore when they arrived, small pox, typhoid fever, dysentery or any of a number of other diseases. Most of the original interments were men who died in the parole camp or the field hospitals. Several Confederate prisoners, and one Russian national, also died in Annapolis and are buried in the cemetery.
Many soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who served during, or died in, subsequent wars - as well as some of their dependents - are also interred there.
Annapolis National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.We are discovering some very interesting places.
