| Submitted by: Mark R. LeeperUnited States |
| Submission Date: 10 February 2005 |
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***Heresy Warning** I generally find more of interest in a painting by Frank Frazetta than in one by Vincent Van Gogh.
***All Clear**
It was nice to see some of the classic Van Gogh paintings like the self-portrait and 'The Bedroom.' But 'Starry Night,' which I had seen a week before at New York's Museum of Modern Art was a very lamentable absence from this display.
Seeing the sketches, which were mostly taken from his letters did give some insight as to how his talent evolved.
I asked the group a question at one point. If you could reach back in time and pull people forward who would be more astonished at his/her museum: Vincent Van Gogh or Anne Frank. I think we concluded that it would be Anne Frank. Van Gogh would just say, 'I told you so.'
When we got out of the museum it was raining. We stood around hoping it would let up but after about twenty minutes decided to go for it. Evelyn had found a shortcut back to the hotel and it really was shorter than we'd expected. Back at the hotel we dried off and found in the tour books a recommendation for a good place to eat dinner. We went only to find the place closed. We are instead at a mediocre Israeli restaurant. The owner came to our table and asked how it was. Everybody but me said it was great. I just sort of shrugged. 'You didn't like it?' 'It was okay,' which was the truth. 'There wasn't enough,' he suggested, but luckily did not press for an answer. It was a small portion of spaghetti and it was just okay. Dale needed money so we paid him and he paid on his Visa card. The waiter took the card but proceeded with his other duties and did nothing with it. We had tickets for a canal cruise and it was getting late. 'Let's ask for our card,' someone suggested. 'Oh, yes, it's coming.' Finally the waiter came along and pulled out the imprinter and started looking at it as if it were a frozen bat he found unexpectedly in the icebox. 'Click! Click!' the owner told him helpfully. 'Put the paper in. Go click-click.' He put the charge sheet in and went click and pulled it out. 'No, you go both ways.' He tried to put the form back in but the handle of the imprinter was on the wrong side. It didn't work. 'Pull back the handle and go click-click.' He put back the handle, put in the form, and went click-click like a pro. Archangels sang in heaven.
Leaving the restaurant we rushed to the boat in part because it was getting late and in part because it was pouring rain. Great evening for a boat ride.
I was taking more picture than notes on the canal cruise, which was narrated in about five languages so it was pretty tough to tell when the guide was going to say something we would understand.
The canals were dug by hand in the 17th and 18th Centuries by wealthy merchants. (Somehow I doubt that. I bet they paid someone to do it for them. But it's nice to see private industry improving a city.) The guard rails next to the canals were installed by wealthy insurance companies who got tired of paying to replace cars that were driven into the canal each weekend when locals who had been drinking tried to park on the edges of the canal. We saw the narrowest house in Amsterdam. It was a few inches wider than its door.
The canal cruise lasted about eighty minutes but was rather unexceptional. On the way back to the hotel we stopped for ice cream and then to bed. I kind of dislike coming into the hotel. The manager chain-smokes and if you think American cigarettes smell bad, try smelling Dutch ones.
And the smell comes right up two flights of stairs.
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To find out what breakfast was like Monday read what it was like on Sunday. The eggs were not as hard-cooked.
Monday was a winner of a day. Right after breakfast we set out for Central Station to start the Jewish walking tour. As soon as we got on the tram I realized I did not have my camera with me. Get off or go on? I would make do with Evelyn's camera. We got to Central Station, changed money, felt flush, and decided to go back for the camera. We did that and returned to Central Station. (This was just the two of us today, by the way.) Our first major stop was a metro station that required the demolition of many houses in the Jewish Quarter. After much protest, the metro was limited to a very short run and to apologize to the area residents they put up photographic murals in the subway depicting the cultural diversity that fell to the wrecking ball. They also put in the wrecking ball. And they made it a piece of art by showing it in its natural habitat with a simulated wrecked wall being knocked down. It's all to say, 'Oh, shoot! Look what we did!'
The next major site was not really on the Jewish tour, but it was there, so what the heck. It was Rembrandt's House, decorated with lots of his etchings and a few of his paintings. The first etching was of the three crosses. It was a Biblical scene, of course, of the crucifixion. We saw three different versions as he made improvements. What sticks out in my mind is at the crucifixion he depicts as an onlooker a horseman of the Italian Renaissance. I suppose the horseman lost his way, as many horsemen of the Italian Renaissance were wont to do. This particular horseman will have quite a story to tell, assuming he can find his way back to the Italian Renaissance.
Rembrandt did a number of other surprising pieces, including two that were variations on the same idea. Both were depictions of the circumcision of Christ. I frankly do not remember the New Testament ever mentioning this joyous event and generally I would suggest that the story it was based on was 'apocryphal' but in this case the use of that word might be ill-advised. I guess if one accepts the New Testament as gospel (or is that the wrong word also?), one would be put in a quandry by the very question of whether this event occurred. If Christ was perfect, would we not assume that He was born pre-circumcised? Would a perfect being be born with this task still remaining to be done? But if He was born pre-circumcised then He would go through life without ever having gone through the circumcision ceremony, and that also seems to contradict the assumption of perfection. I don't know if this issue has ever been considered by authorities on the subject. By and large such authorities tend not to consider such issues because the subject seems in some sense unwholesome.
In that sense it is similar to the question of bodily eliminations. One wishes to believe that a truly perfect being is above bodily eliminations as it has been suggested He was above sexual inclination. But I have never actually heard that stated or the contrary stated. The New Testament does have Christ eat and He does not appear to be above needing nourishment, but there is little to explain what happens to the materials after consumption. Presumably He might be 100% efficient in turning all of what He eats into energy. This certainly would help to reinforce the assumption of perfection. But I suspect some people would have a hard time finding faith and solace in a God who was part nuclear reactor, albeit one that was 100% efficient. Besides, even with the few references to Christ eating that one can find, His energy expenditure appears to be nowhere near as great as would be required to be to dissipate even the little substance we know He took. Medieval artists depicted Him with an aura, of course, but there are no reasonable figures I know of on how much energy could be dissipated in an aura of any reasonable magnitude. No, one rather suspects that if Christ was truly to be above normal functions of elimination, the matter would have to be dispensed with through some form of divine intervention. However, if that is the case it is a miracle that has undoubtedly gone unrecognized for two millenia. And that is a pity because it was most necessary that Christ be perpetually and uninterruptedly at His best, and He could not be but for the timely application of this miracle. And certainly such a miracle would be more colorful for Christ's followers than, say, the Annunciation.
Evelyn pointed out how often Rembrandt portrayed dogs in his etchings. There almost always seem to be dogs present in his Bible scenes and occasionally in somewhat compromised positions. Rembrandt was apparently quite fond of dogs. The museum also has a slide show on Rembrandt's life that runs on the half-hour.
Our next major stop on the walking tour was to be the Jewish Historical Museum but we decided to eat lunch first. We found a little cafe. Evelyn had a roast beef sandwich and I had a croquette and fries. The croquette is more traditional Dutch food and it was quite tasty though when I described it later to Jo it did not sound all that good. Basically it is meat ground almost into a paste and then fried up with a crisp breaded shell. It came with a mountain of fries that usually are served with mayonnaise. I would have ordered them that way but my Dutch was not up to it.
The Jewish Historical Museum is quite unusual among Jewish museums in that it apparently is not run by Jews, nor does it really need to be. It is run by the Dutch government in continued defiance to Nazi bigotry and all anti-Jewish bigotry. Most of the collection, I am told, was made by the Nazis for their planned 'Museum of a Vanished Race.' This museum is probably on a par or such as menorahs, ceremonial silver, etc., they also have a history of the Nazi invasion of Holland, the anti-semitic actions of the Nazis, and finally the liberation of the Jews. Perhaps the most touching item was the photo of two old men, one snipping with scissors the yellow Jude-star from the other's jacket. We walked along behind what was apparently a Dutch grandfather, non-Jewish, telling his American granddaughter (dressed somewhat punk) about the history of Jews in this neighborhood. He was pointing out where in the neighborhood the Jews had built barricades to defend themselves at one point. I guess I was just flattered that Gentiles would take the time and have the interest. Did I say I liked the Dutch?
We ran into Dale and Jo and sat with them for a little while in the coffee shop. From there we went on to the Portuguese Synagogue. There I was the subject of a rather embarrassing incident. I was wearing a cap to keep off the sun. There were yarmulkes available at the outer gate, apparently, but nobody pointed them out to me, I presume since I was already wearing a head covering. So when I got inside the synagogue I was madly looking around for where to find the yarmulkes and they were nowhere to be found. Everyone else had a yarmulke of one sort or another and I had only this silly sunhat. People were polite about it but it was one of those moments when if the earth had cracked open and swallowed me I would have lived happily after.
The synagogue itself is quite large and ornately carved of wood. When the Jews were thrown out of Spain as described in my last trip log (q.v.), many found refuge in Holland. Three communities of Sephardic (Iberian-origin) Jews grew in Amsterdam until they merged. In 1675 they built for themselves the largest and most ornate synagogue in the world. The locals made them agree to sort of camouflage the synagogue among other buildings. Still from a distance you can see it is the tallest building in its complex.
There were several other sites in the tour but most amounted to little more than seeing a building with a Jewish star somewhere. We finished the tour about 4:30 PM.
Next we were curious to see the famous red light district. Of course, this was a little early to do that, but we knew very little of the ground rules at this point and were unaware that there is not much to see at this hour. In New York the similar area are seems to run almost all day. |
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