It's Monday

BALTIMORE, Maryland July 8, 2013-  {work in progress} A radio commentator today, (When I was the absolute most liberal person on Earth, I listened to Rush Limbaugh.  It's how I started grinding my teeth.  I still listen.  The grinding has gone by the wayside) basking in the glow of obama's major concession on the obamashaft (i.e. Affordable Care), said, straight up, that the fewer the number of people who "enroll" in obamashaft the easier it will be to repeal...How crazy is the American League? Well, consider this: Were the season to end today, the Yankees would be out of the playoff picture.  Had Mariano Rivera not blown a save yesterday against the Orioles - Adam Jones hit a long home run in the ninth right after Nick Markakis singled, as the Orioles stormed from behind to salvage the final game of a three game set - the Yankees would be in.  Right now, the Rangers would get the first wild card berth and the right to play at home in that one-game playoff.  The second team would be decided by a playoff game between the Orioles and the Rays.  They both own 49-40 records. The Yankees (48-40), are one-half behind Baltimore and Tampa, while the Indians (46-42) trail by two and one-half, the Angels and Blue Jays (both at 43-45) by five and one-half, and the Royals (41-44) by six games.  If you don't think the wild card has ginned up interest in some cities, consider this: the Blue Jays trail Boston by a whopping ten games.  But they are only five and one-half behind the wild car leaders. But there is a down-side to the wild card.  With more teams in the playoff fight, there are fewer teams willing to deal veteran ballplayers before the July 31 trading deadline...If you read the headlines, especially the local headlines, you should know the big downside to living in Baltimore.  The drug trade is rampant in the city, and the number of shootings rises concomitantly.  The last weekend in June saw an astounding 20 shootings. (Baltimore is lucky compared to Chicago, where the Fourth of July Holiday saw 72 people shot, 12 of whom died).  There are trade-offs, ones I am willing to make.  First and foremost, I get to raise my family in an integrated neighborhood.  Getting along with everybody is easy because we do it everyday without thinking about it.  Another huge benefit to living here is the cultural offerings that a city can make.  This City's fathers were generous to a T; names like Johns Hopkins, Enoch Pratt, William and Henry Walters, the Cone sisters, and that is only the start.  Because of the artistic vision and generosity of the two Walters and the two Cones, among others, the City has two major Art Galleries - the Walters Art Gallery and the Baltimore Museum of Art - both with strong Renaissance and European art collections.  God knows the number of times I have wondered through those galleries.  In the Baltimore Museum of Art stands the legendary painting by the Flemish Master Anthony Van Dyck, "Rinaldo and Armida".  The very large, lavish and rich work portrays a legendary scene from Torquato Tasso's epic poem, "Jerusalem Delivered," written in 1580.  Van Dyck's work was completed in 1624 and is set today in a sumptuous Circular Frame covered, lovingly, with the richest gold paint imaginable.  The museum's staff has noted that the frame is much newer than the painting, and was matched with the art work in either the 18th or 19th centuries.  Both galleries have other great works by antiquity's masters, and I will refer to them over and over again in this space.  Both are open to the public year round for no charge.  I believe they both are closed on Monday and Tuesday, but if you plan to go you should call ahead.  The BMA also has a life-size sculpture of Mary and the Christ-Child that was completed, it is believed, in France sometime between 1330-1350 AD.  The work was sculpted from a single block of limestone and was originally covered in beautiful paint, remnants of which can still be seen.  Unlike many works of art which are slightly newer and found in Italy, and depict the Christ-child with a very mature face, this evocation of Christ is age-appropriate. The artist is unknown, sadly, and the sculpture was removed from a church in the small French town of Gisy-les-Nobles.  The town is located in Upper Burgundy.  Three things about the work literally reached out and grabbed my attention.  First and foremost was the gaze and appearance of Mary.  Her beautiful face is soft and loving, and while her hold on her child is firm and motherly, the artist allows her gaze to be off in the distance, almost certainly lost in her thoughts.  An ever-curious Christ-Child, by comparison is drawn to something much closer. His look is alert, eager to learn. The second and third attention grabbers are the objects in the two figures' hands.  Christ has a moderately-sized bird in his left hand.  The bird's wings are extended, but there are no signs it is struggling.  Mary, has something in her free hand that is difficult to identify.  The artist left no clue and the museum staff offers no suggestion.  For my part, I think it is a rolled piece of paper.  What was going on in those years?  In Italy, the Renaissance is percolating.  But this is France.  And a small town in France, no less.  Who was this artist who could produce such a magnificent work and yet pass from history without further notice?  Indeed, is there another work by this artist?  Will we ever know?