The first part of the day was spent in museums, kind of expected since this is an art history program :)

At the first museum, Alte Pinakothek ("The Old Painting Gallery"), I had another cool art historical moment. I was thrilled to find several pieces in the museum that we had studied in depth in Northern Renaissance Art this past semester. Standing in front of one particular piece, Van Weyden's St. Luke Painting the Virgin, I was once again overcome by the beauty of the work. Seeing it in-person makes a huge difference. There are specific qualities (such as the specific brushstroke style, the intricate details, the glint of the oil paint, etc.) that simply cannot be recreated in a photographic reproduction. I had seen this image many, many times but it was so much more powerful and emotive when it was directly in front of me. Others who look at the piece really may not think that it is that pretty of a picture or that powerful of an image but it just really hit me. I cannot accurately explain it. It was almost like a spiritual moment where I could feel the devotion of the artist who created it, his desire to more properly demonstrate and illustrate the relationship between Mary and the Christ child. Anyway, just know that for me it was deeply moving.

One of the great moments for me at the second museum, Neue Pinakothek ("The New Painting Gallety"), was turning the corner and unexpectedly coming face-to-face with a work I spent an entire semester studying and writing a research paper on. I was thrilled! I rather felt like it was "my" piece. It had come to hold a special place among other works of art in my mind and personal, mental collection. It was, again, way bigger than I realized! Dang. Another moment in the museum was studying Wilhelm Lehmbruck's sculpture entitled "The Fallen." It was a piece created to depict the suffering inflicted upon all those who are involved, in anyway, in warfare. The artist himself would commit suicide a few years later, supposedly due to the post-traumatic stress of having been a soldier himself in WWI. Heather pointed out the complex relationship between the negative and positive space of the work (positive space being any area occupied by the physical material of the work, negative being the areas of openness). She noted that the figure seems to be collapsing in on himself because he can no longer contain the emptiness (the negative space) that his body is arched around. My mind immediately raced to those moments of crushing loneliness that all of us experience, those moments when we feel like that gaping hole in our souls will swallow us alive. Here was a man destroyed by the horrors of war from the inside out. Originally, I had walked right past the piece without paying much attention to it, instead being drawn to the colorful German Expressionism works on the surrounding walls. Suddenly, after an intensely intimate and personal reflection and reaction to the art, I could not tear my eyes from it. It was a deeply spiritual moment for me, even if that may sound ridiculous. Art for me has always been able to arouse my soul in ways that music does for others. It is a powerful motivator and instructor. That is why I love it.

A small group of us went into downtown Munich to explore more of the old city afterwards. We leisurely strolled and window-shopped as we made our way to our intended destination: Hofbrauhaus - the largest beer hall in the world! Of course, we ordered sodas and waters but the drinks all came in some pretty sweet mugs. I ordered the half-chicken, Bavarian-styled roasted with potatoes. When they saw "half-chicke" they mean it literally. They most have roasted a whole chicken and then chopped it right down the middle. It was a pretty decent-sized chicken, too! And...it was delicious! I am really digging the meat and potatoes theme here :)

When we had been walking towards the beer hall we had noticed a giant bell tower with what looked like a massive cuckoo clock. Following dinner we BOOKED it back to the square, hoping to watch the clock go off on the hour. And you know what? It did absolutely nothing. It was rather depressing :P We still aren't sure if it isn't really a cuckoo clock or of it only goes off at certain times...all we know for sure is we looked like idiots with our cameras pointed up at the clock for 10 minutes recording only the movement of the minute hand, ha-ha!

Once again, we are all pretty dang tuckered out. Church in the morning! I am really excited to go to church in Munich. I don't know exactly why, but I have really been looking forward to attending this ward every since we found out what cities we were in on Sundays. Yea for Sunday!