Art High and Low

When it is sunny, London can be very cheerful and busy. The warming rays seem to bring everyone out of their homes and into the streets. That was certainly the case yesterday when we made our way down to the National Gallery in the morning to vainly attempt seeing some of the world’s greatest art in an hour or so. It is in a building suitably grand for the display of its contents and there we saw masterpieces of Monet, Renoir, and even Leonardo.

While iconic Christian scenes are not precisely my bag, I could not help but feel moved while I sat and stared at Leonardo’s Virgin and Child in the Rocks. So what is the Louvre has another copy a little bit older? This one will do for today, and I practically had the painting all to myself. There are few crowds at any of the popular attractions here at this time of year in spite of all the people outside enjoying the sunshine. An exception to that crowd generalization occurred at our next stop. First a disclaimer: I do not wish to offend any of my friends who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but it must be admitted that “The Book of Mormon” is the funniest musical I have ever seen. We entered the theater with high hopes and were not disappointed. The biting sarcasm of this play was tempered with catchy tunes and a tone of real humanity in the chemistry between

the two male leads. That being said, any Mormon going to see this show would have to have some pretty thick skin to enjoy it, for the presentation depended on mocking the apparently unlimited credulity shared by members of the faith. This was the first professional “Broadway’ style show we had ever seen, and we laughed until our sides hurt. Our sides did not hurt us enough to prevent enjoying a nice meal on the way home. I had a “Scotch Egg,” which was rather tasty, while Jayne went for a shrimp cocktail. The city lights were beautiful as we strolled home.