daspetey

today we went to a museum down at hero’s square. there was an el greco exhibit, as well as some stuff on mummies. there was also a temporary exhibit by a french artist who drew trees.

the mummy part started with a 3d movie. basically it was a CG walkthrough of the scientific process of x-raying and imaging the mummies. budapest had four mummies in their collection, each one in a different state of unwrapping. it was cool to see the different phases. 

one was fully wrapped, including an outer decorative wrapping that mirrored the design of his sarcophagus. a second was wrapped just in the tightest inner layer. the third was wrapped, but the face was exposed. and the fourth was completely unwrapped. next to each was the x-ray scan. 

it’s a strange thing to be looking at the dead bodies of people that died over two thousand years ago. apparently egyptians thought it was very important to preserve the head. they would go to great lengths to support the head and neck of the mummy. and they were afraid of demons in the afterlife that would try to decapitate them with knives. so maybe the original Highlander was egyptian and not scottish.

the el greco exhibit was actually part of a larger collection of a famous hungarian art collector. as a collector he was known for being partially responsible for sparking the el greco fever that swept the art world. i wasn’t a huge fan of the el greco stuff. the colors are a bit harsh, and the way he paints people is a bit creepy.

some of the other artists’ work in the collection was quite good. there was a section of sketches and color roughs. i like seeing that stuff, because it gives a slight insight into the artists’ process.