Return to the Denver Art Museum

I rode my bicycle downtown, locked the bicycle at my favorite deli, and took the bus to the Denver Art Museum.  The first Saturday of the month is a free admission day.

It was a good day for paintings.  I liked this Madonna and Child with Saints (1511) by Bernardo Zenale.  From the placard:  "Leonardo da Vinci spent many years in Milan, and his art had a profound impact on local artists.  Here, the Virgin's features and the grotto setting recall The Virgin of the Rocks, a painting Leonardo made for the same church."

St. Jerome, in the red garments of a cardinal, holds a pen and paper. A crucifix and a skull are hung on the stone wall behind him, and his attribute, a lion, is at his feet. St. Ambrose wears a bishop's miter and robe; he holds a staff, and treads upon a soldier [rather unsaintly of him to use a soldier as a foot stool, it might seem]. Joseph stands in the shadows behind Jerome.

I shifted over to the French Impressionists and admired two pictures by Claude Monet, The Coastguard's Cabin and Fishing Boats.

The most delightful art I saw today was this earthenware figurine of a dancing girl (Veracruz, Mexico 600-900 A.D.).  One seldom sees such a joyful expression portrayed in pre-Columbian art.

Dance, young lady, dance!