Dumbarton Oaks, the Mall, and other touristy things

Mom and Dad came to DC this past weekend, and I could not have been happier! We found some great restaurants, and I even navigated the streets of DC in order to see some sights.

Dad really wanted to see the statue of Ulysses S. Grant that sits at the bottom of the Capitol building on the Mall.

We also went to the National Gallery of Art, and while I did not take any pictures there (I would think it's obvious not to take pictures of the artwork, but I saw a LOT of people doing just that...and then getting asked by the security guards to delete the photos, HA!), I definitely encourage everyone to go see the special exhibits.

There is a great exhibit of Paul Gauguin's work at the National Gallery (and it's free!), and it has become an even bigger event since some woman went a little nuts and tried to rip one of Gauguin's paintings off the wall. I'm not kidding, not even a little. Thankfully, his Two Tahitian Women was back on display when we were at the museum.

However, I did notice a marked increase in the security detail.

While I did enjoy the Gauguin exhibit, I was also very impressed with the Canaletto exhibit. Basically, young men in the eighteenth century would go on the "Great Tour" of Europe, and because they had yet to invent the polaroid, they commissioned art to depict places they had traveled. Thus, Canaletto became famous for his works that depicted scenes of Venice - even when he fudged details to make a prettier picture. Many of his contemporaries did the same.

In this painting by Gaspar Van Wittel, you can see three domes in the distance - except that technically only one dome should be visible from this viewpoint! The other two domes of the church should be hidden by the building in front. But that didn't stop Van Wittel (also known as Vanvitelli), because he wanted his painting to depict specific buildings and areas of Venice to be showcased by British travelers. Canaletto also famously shortened the campanile tower because it would not have fit into the painting.

Later in the day, we all went to Dumbarton Oaks, which was once a private residence that has since been converted into a museum and a park. The museum is free, but the gardens are not - probably because they're owned by Harvard...

Anyway, the museum houses one of the largest collections of Byzantine art, and a fantastic reading room with old and rare books related to gardening and architecture. Coincidentally I found a volume on Vanvitelli in the stacks! The gardens were gorgeous too, of course:

We also saw this motto all over the gardens:

which means: "You reap what you sow." Dad and I had a little Latin brain malfunction, but I googled it :)