Aston Martin at the Simeon Automotive Museum

This past weekend I got to spend a few hours at one of my favorite places. The Simeone Automotive Museum which is located in Philadelphia. Here is a link to their website. I have written about the museum before, specifically last year, after they had a “Classic American Muscle Cars” show. Currently they are exhibiting a "Best of Britain" collection featuring Aston Martin for its 100th anniversary. I was very excited because the Simeone displays fine automobiles with a level of refinement and class usually reserved for Faberge and Swarovski. Along with classic Aston Martin’s dating from the 1930’s, there were plenty of recent pristine models to ogle over including a 2014 Vanquish. If you enjoy works of art on four wheels, take an afternoon and visit. You won’t be disappointed.

Taken with a Nikon D800 using various lenses

Harbinger

The Robin was a sign when I was little. A harbinger of warmer weather, bike rides, baseball and playing outside after dinner. This one was outside the back door on Sunday along with a few of its friends. The Robin is one of the first birds to return to our area after its migratory escape to warmer climates. So here’s to the Robin, to longer days, to warmer temperatures, and to rebirth.

Nikon D4 ​Sigma 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm f/4 ISO 100 1/500 sec

#TravelTuesday Michelangelo's Pieta

Since it’s Easter week and today is #TravelTuesday I thought I would talk about a unique religious piece of artwork in a place far away. For our honeymoon my wife and I traveled to Rome. Michelangelo has always been a favorite artist of mine and I had wanted to see his work with my own eyes, so the Vatican was a “must see” destination. The Pieta is a depiction of Mary, the mother of Jesus, holding her son after his crucifixion. My picture was taken before I tried to make beautiful pictures, and it has a lot of technical flaws, but today’s post isn’t about that. It also isn’t a religious statement except that religion has inspired many mortals to aspire towards higher purposes. It’s about a work of indescribable beauty.

Here’s the mundane facts: The creation is 5’9” x 6’5" it took two years to carve 1497-1499, from a single block of marble.

First impressions: It is tiny. Well at least it seems that way for a few reasons. Many people come to see this masterpiece, so throngs of people from all over the world gather in front of it. You can’t get very close because of the restrictive area in which it resides. The Pieta was attacked in 1972 and now sits safely behind bulletproof glass, and it is far removed as to prevent further lunacy. The size of the sculpture is dwarfed because of the massive, imposing surroundings of St Peter’s Basilica.

A deeper look: To say that the sculpture is lifelike would be an understatement. The folds in the garments don’t appear to be rock hard in any way. It was as if they gently fell that way against Mary’s lap before Jesus was laid there. The youthfulness that radiates from Mary’s face is beyond illuminating. It could only be expressed as if she had an inner halo. The living warmth radiating outward from within her is juxtaposed against Jesus' limp and lifeless body. Details of muscles and bones pushing against the flesh show the power and health of a man who now lies past the struggles and toils of this world. The care and emotion Michelangelo etched into the stone ooze out of the marble with passion and sadness.

Reflections: Mary is huge compared to Jesus and that becomes obvious as soon as someone mentions it. She holds Jesus up with her right arm, which takes a great deal of strength evidenced by the marks it makes in his right side and right bicep. Not an easy thing to do for a woman of fiftyish. The scale of mother to son is all wrong, but there are other ways to see it. Perhaps Michelangelo wants us to see Mary looking down on her newborn infant and remembering days of holding her small child. She would be youthful and glowing. But now her son lies dead in her arms, her expression solemn, seeing the present despair and loss.

I have seen pictures of this piece of art many times and wondered what it would be like in person. It is indescribably different. Imagine hearing your favorite song while your head was underwater. That’s what pictures are like for this magnificent wonder. Only in life can it emote the spirit Michelangelo breathed into it.

Like a Lion

I’ve always felt that in the area I reside, snow in March was a brief occurrence that rarely had the fortitude to outlast a day. Sure, there’s the occasional flurry, or even an inch or two that coats the trees, whose buds have recently stirred from their annual slumber. Snow lays on the grass, that was only green in sporadic patches, while the blacktop shrugs it off, barely delaying commuters except to unearth galoshes from the recesses of the coat closet. I wonder if the shivering flowers that started to peer out of the thawing Earth have second thoughts about their yearning to see the outside world. Today, Winter’s last gasp blew into town and spewed its soft white blanket across the countryside. For me it’s a nice reminder of what we leave behind.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28mm f/22 ISO 100 1/8 sec

Up Early at the Track

Heading out early in the predawn hours is something I’ve been accustom to for many years. Often times I am greeted with solitude, but a racetrack is buzzing with activity in the early am. I walked through the parking lot seeing other souls going about their jobs, directing cars, herding attendees, preparing food carts and heading in for early meetings about the day’s events. After making a semi circle around the track I crossed the highway and ascended one of the hills that enclose part of Bristol Motor Speedway. Shortly thereafter the Sun peaked out from the opposing hill and spread its light onto the arena.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 32mm f/16 ISO 100 1/200 sec