The Virgin, Saints, Angels, & Me

I absolutely love going to museums so when I heard that there was an exhibition we could use for our blog I was really excited. I went to the special tour open to the public for this exhibition yesterday. The paintings are beautiful. My favorites are "The Penitent Mary Magdalene," "Noah's Ark," and "The Last Judgment." I thought it was interesting how in almost every painting God and the Holy Spirit were present. God is typically displayed at the top of the painting with his arms spread open and the Holy Spirit as a dove right below God flying towards the observer of the painting.

When the Spanish came to the New World, Catholic missionaries also came with them, and their main goal was to convert the indigenous people. They used paintings to communicate with the indigenous people since they didn't speak the same language. To the Spanish missionaries' surprise these indigenous people understood what the paintings were trying to convey even though it was supernatural concepts. I'm Hmong which is a small tribe that's scattered throughout the world, but the majority currently reside in Laos where they practice shamanism, the worship of spirits and ancestors. I don't practice shamanism, but my grandparents still do. My grandparents are really strict and stubborn so it would seem really hard to convert them especially if there's already a language barrier. It amazes me that those South American tribes could understand and convert to Catholicism.

I really liked this exhibit. The Blanton is the last venue for this exhibit, and when the exhibit leaves the Blanton it'll go into storage. These paintings won't be in exhibits for many years so if you want to see these paintings make sure you go before they leave. It may be a once in a life time opportunity.