FOUR BLOCKS NORTH of the main tourist attractions on the Washington Mall lies a cultural gem no Scorpion reader visiting the anti-nation's capital should miss. The National Museum of American Art along with the National Portrait Gallery, is housed in the Old Patent Building. The main entrance is located on F Street between 7th and 9th Streets. The building itself is of historical and architectural interest, being a Greek Revivial building, "temple of the useful arts", begun in 1836. The principle enticement for a vist, however, will be found on the second floor of the N.M.A.A. Here are exhibited numerous works of nineteenth and early twentieth century art which explicitly celebrates Northern European aesthetics.
The second half of the nineteeth century and the early years of this century can now be viewed as the latest (hopefully not the last) efflorescence of Northern civilization. Nordic societies were at a phone number list high water mark of power, wealth and knowledge vis-…-vis the rest of mankind. They were in the midst of a technical-industrial revolution at home which provided the impetus to complete the settlement of two continents (North America and Australia) and the exploration of another (Antartica).and in part a result of the physical and material advancement of the race. Nordics of this era generally felt a consciousness of kind, a pride in the present and a faith in the future. The psychological environment animated most Northern artists of the day to extol traditional Western aesthetics in their creations.
There is a high degree of continuity in the Western ideal of human beauty from ancient Greece through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance up to the early part of the twentieth century. A beauty which encompasses both countenance and character is central to this ideal. Another requisite is the unity of strength and refinement. In Northern European iconography, the knight, the gentle warrior, represents the masculine ideal, while angels are often used to represent the vigorous and delicate beauty of Nordic women and children.
Expansiveness of spirit was in part a cause
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