Sunday, October 19, 2008

Boston is for Lovers (of the Pre-Raphaelites)

One more wedding related post, and then it's back to business as usual, I promise :)

Tom and I honeymooned to coastal Massachusetts. Specifically, we stayed in a castle B&B in Marblehead. The castle was built in the early 20th century as a reproduction of Erik the Red's castle. It overlooked a beautiful park and Marblehead harbor, and honestly, I can't imagine a more Pre-Raphaelite, romantic spot in the entire U.S.

The original plan was to spend a day or two around Salem, and also to go into Boston to visit the Fogg Museum, where there are several Burne-Jones artworks, and also perhaps the MFA in Boston as well as the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. Sadly, none of that worked out. I was devastated to discover that the artwork I most wanted to see at the Fogg, Burne-Jones Depths of the Sea (my favorite artwork by him) is currently out of the public eye while the Fogg is under renovation work. I was so upset when I heard this, I had to express it in picture form:

One Pre-Raphaelite related event going on that I wish I had been able to catch while we were in Boston, however, was the Imperishable Beauty exhibit at the MFA. The exhibit features Art Nouveau jewelry, but apparently also features Rossetti's Bocca Baciata. So if you happen to be in the Boston area, you might want to check it out!

6 comments:

Meredith said...

I got to see Depths of the Sea for a few minutes once. I almost hadn't because I'd called up before hand to check that I would be able to when I was there and when we arrived most of the Burne-Jones were away being photographed for a catalog. But it was still there when we went back into the storage room. I remember it was larger than I'd expected.

Margaret said...

Congratulations, Grace! What a spectacular place for a honeymoon--incredibly romantic. I really enjoyed seeing your Pre-Raph inspired wedding photo as well--just lovely. Again, congratulations!

Anonymous said...

It's very nice to find your blog and find such a person fascinated by the artists of the brootherhood.
I am crazy about these artists too and desperately want to find any movie based on the stories of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. However, I didn't find any, except the news that BBS is going to make a mini series called "Desperate Romantics" starting next year.
Liam

Grace said...

Meredith, I can't imagine how amazing that would be!! And thank you Margaret :)


Anonymous, a few entries back I mentioned a movie that came out in the 60s about Rossetti. It was pretty well done when I watched it. :)

Anonymous said...

what a great place for a honey moon, so restful and magic!

Grace said...

Was it ever...and would have been even more so if we hadn't had to drive ;) (MA driving = scary)