Self Portrait - Elizabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
c. 1781

Seen at the Kimbell Art Museum 

To Lady Pomfret March 1740
I cannot deny your ladyship’s letter gave me a great deal of pleasure; but you have seasoned it with a great deal of pain, in the conclusion (after the many agreeable things you have said to me) that you are not entirely satisfied with me: you will not throw our separation on ill fortune; and I will not renew the conversation of the fallen angels in Milton, who in contesting on predestination and free-will, we are told, ‘They of the vain dispute could know no end.’ Yet I know that neither my pleasures, my passions, nor my interests, have ever disposed of me, so much as little accidents, which whether from chance or destiny, have always determined my choice. Here is weather for example, which, to the shame of all almanacks, keeps on the depth of winter in the beginning of spring; and makes it as much impossible for me to pass the mountains of Bologna, as it would be to wait on you in another planet, if you had taken up your residence in Venus or Mercury. However, I am fully determined to give myself that happiness; but when is out of my power to decide.
                You may imagine, apart from the gratitude I owe you and the inclination I feel for you, that I am impatient to hear good sense pronounced in my native tongue, having only heard my language out of the mouths of boys and governors for these five months. Here are inundations of them broke in upon us this carnival, and my apartment must be their refuge, the greater part of them having kept an inviolable fidelity to the languages their nurses taught them. Their whole business abroad (as far as I can perceive) being to buy new cloaths, in which they shine in some obscure coffee-house, where they are sure of meeting only one another; and after the important conquest of some waiting gentlewoman of an opera Queen, who perhaps they remember as long as they live, return to England excellent judges of men and manners. I find the spirit of patriotism so strong in me every time I see them, that I look on them as the greatest blockheads in nature; and, to say truth, the compound of booby and petit maitre makes up a very odd sort of animal. I hope we shall live to talk all these things over, and ten thousand more, which I reserve till the hour of meeting; which that it may soon arrive is the zealous wish of Your ever faithful, &c. &c.
_____
Letter from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Julie as Flora, Roman Goddess of Flowers Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun

For my birthday, we went to the St. Petersburg / Tampa area. While we were at the hotel I grabbed all the advertisements that showed the nearby attractions. Lo and behold, one was for the Museum of Fine Arts. The advertisement included a photo of the above Vigee-Lebrun painting and I knew we had to go.

And what a gem of a museum it was! The only complaint I have was the woman who did our tickets was very unfriendly. The museum has a lot of 18th century goodies, and I’ll be sharing my photos throughout the next few weeks. This was also my first time seeing a Monet (as well as a few other of the more famous artists). Some of my images are a bit blurry (no flash in galleries, and still learning how my camera likes to work), but I hope you can see a glimmer of the beauty that is there. 

I felt such a sense of happiness and calmness as we walked through the galleries. I love technology, and how the internet can show us art from all over the world from the comfort of our homes, but there is nothing that can compare to seeing the real thing. I strongly encourage you to support you local art galleries/museums as well as those when you travel. 

If you are ever in the St. Petersburg area, I highly recommend checking out this museum, it was worth every penny!

(all photos were taken by me)