Walters Art Museum: The Atrium

Baltimore: the atrium of the Walters Art Museum reminds me the world of Lampedusa. That is how I was imagining the Sicilian palace of Don Fabrizio Corbera Prince of Salina: huge empty atriums, some statues and busts at margins, a subtle suggestion of decomposition.

It is in such a place that I understand the hero of Lampedusa: he was observing his decline and was enjoying it.

Some faux-vitrailles seeming to communicate cosmic insights.

Opposite the entrance, some stairs lead to a bas relief: Eve giving the apple to Adam; the devil has a woman-head; you'd say the snake is the elder sister of Eve.

Suddenly a couple of girls enter the atrium and start to play. Anything is possible from now on. This is Baltimore.




(Baltimore)