The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Md.

The Walters Art Museum is located in the heart of Baltimore at 600 N. Charles Street, near the Washington Monument and Peabody Institute.

Well divided by time period, the Walters has a lot to offer to the curious eye. It's in what appears to be neo-classical. The museum, which started as a personal family collection is actually in their old family compound. To try to verbalize the design, there was an open air courtyard (now covered) and several floors and an additional annex (which I did not get into).

The first gallery I explored was The Ancient World. Here, there is Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. I had actually been to this museum before, as a jaded college sophomore and had a personal tour with my small Roman History class. Probably the only thing I remember about this tour four years ago was that there are a lot of head sculptures, and the docent who gave the tour explained that as rulers changed, the head on sculptures would change, and you can tell by the details if the head was made over an old head, when it was made and in what context. For example, one head was simply a redone Nero after his unpopular rule was over. This was determined because there was a strong resemblance to Nero and contemporary retouches to the head, such as a new nose, and deeper cuts in the hair.
Greek and Roman flow into each other, as so history is so adequately reflected. There are a lot of different representations of art, but it is mostly heads and busts in limestone. There is one excellent outcove of jewelry and of small trinkets. What is astonishing is the detail that went into the art, so they do provide a few magnifying glasses so you can observe the detail. Because a lot of the collection is a personal collection, it goes out for traveling exhibits and for special displays, but by no means does this take away from what is on display. There are also a lot of sarcophagus on display, and the detail in them, considering most are over 2000 years old, is astonishing. In the middle of the Greek and Roman exhibits was the Egyptian exhibit. The Egyptian collection had a lot more color to it because that was simply what was available to them. The colors are a strong contrast from the cream colored limestone of the earlier two. There is also a large gallery dedicated to the burial traditions of Egypt. I've been to some cool traveling exhibits before (King Tut in the Franklin Institute for one), but this was the perfect amount. There was a complete coffin set and a mummified cat. Kind of freaked me out because it was small enough to fit in a medium Coach bag, but I've always heard that pets were mummified and here was one.

Upstairs is where the Medieval exhibit is kept. The galleries flow nicely and as expected nearly all of the art is very Christian centered. What I was shocked at how well it was done, was how Byzantium and Eastern Orthodox art initiates the exhibit, and then it separates. There is also Islamic art addressed which I found to be very interesting. Christian art centers around images of Jesus, Mary and the apostles, where as Muslims don't allow the image of Mohammed to be created, so the words of the Qu'ran becomes the art. It was a great balance in the exhibit. Also on this floor is art from the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries. These galleries got to be a bit too much for me to handle (I was under visual overload by this point) and I didn't get to go through them. Watch out for a new post (because these galleries are what most people like to see).

To take a few minutes, I just looked over the balcony to what was the sculpture garden at one point. I moved on to the fourth floor where there was 19th century art. At this point I just had to admit defeat, and tried again with some other galleries on the second floor surrounding the courtyard. Down here was some "Wonders" such as taxidermied animals and fossils along with guns and armor. Its a great break in the action from all of the paintings.

While I have come to appreciate the use of multiple medias, to go to a museum with items and captions is refreshing. I spent two hours in the building, and it was enough to appreciate half of the collection. There are things to keep kids occupied but to the true art fan, leave the little ones at home. Also leave the easily bored by art history buffs at home too. This museum is free though welcome donations and the gift shop is full of unique gifts at fair prices (but no shot glasses). It's a great way to spend a Saturday in Baltimore.