Category Archives: Museums

National Aquarium in Baltimore (Maryland, USA)

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National Aquarium

This non-profit public aquarium, formerly known as the Baltimore Aquarium when it opened on August 8, 1981 (then shortly later as the National Aquarium in Baltimore) after three years of construction, was constructed during a period of urban renewal in Baltimore. From 2003 to 2013, the National Aquarium and the much older independent National Aquarium in Washington were joined as one National Aquarium with two sites.

The National Aquarium’s initial conceptual design, architecture and exhibit design was led by Peter Chermayeff of Peter Chermayeff LLC (while he was at Cambridge Seven Associates)while that for the Glass Pavilion expansion was led by Bobby C. Poole (while at Chermayeff, Sollogub & Poole).

Check out “Baltimore’s Inner Harbor“

An amazing Jellyfish sculpture by Dillon Works

The National Aquarium, the crown jewel of the city’s Inner Harbor and one of the finest facilities of its kind in the world, has won the following awards:

  • In November 2006, the National Aquarium won a Best of Baltimore award from the Baltimore City Paper as the “Best Over Priced Destination for Families.”
  • In 2011, Coastal Living magazine named the National Aquarium the No. 1 aquarium in the United States.
  • In September 2011, the City Paper Reader’s Poll awarded the National Aquarium with the title of “Best Attraction” and the “Best Place to Take Kids.”
  • In 2012, the National Aquarium was named by the Travel Channel as one of the best aquariums in the United States
  • In 2012, it and also received the popular vote as one of the top five best aquariums to visit by 10best.com.

Blue whale skeleton

The largest tourism attraction in the State of Maryland, this immersive under water experience that doesn’t require getting wet has an annual attendance of 1.5 million visitors, holds more than 8,300,000 liters (2,200,000 US gallons) of water and has more than 17,000 specimens representing over 750 species.

The author (left) beside the jaw of a megalodon

The National Aquarium houses several exhibits including the Upland Tropical Rain Forest, a multiple-story Atlantic Coral Reef, an open ocean shark tank and Australia: Wild Extremes (which won the “Best Exhibit” award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 2008) plus has a 4D Immersion Theater (added in late 2007). It can be explored in about 2.5 hours and its layout promotes a one-way traffic pattern, which works fine if you expect to see everything from start to finish with no breaks. The marine mammal pavilion, opened in 1990, is located at the adjacent south end of Pier 4.

Marine Mammal Pavilion

The five-level Pier 3 Pavilion, its floors accessible via escalator and elevator except to guests with strollers (guests with toddlers must carry them on their person or use a hipster baby sling carrier, strollers must be checked in upon entering), houses two large tanks, one of which simulates an Atlantic coral reef, and the other simulates the open ocean.  Each floor possesses several exhibits that communicate a main theme.

Blacktip Reef

Blacktip Reef, a 1,000,000 liter (265,000 US-gallon) habitat at Level 1, replicates an Indo-Pacific reef landscape (living corals are exhibited elsewhere in the National Aquarium).  It can be seen from many vantage points, including a new floor-to-ceiling pop-out viewing window. The habitat contains 65–70 species, mostly fish (including blacktip reef sharks).

Reticulated Whiptail Ray

Calypso, one of the largest animals in the exhibit, is a 500-pound green sea turtle introduced into Blacktip Reef in July 2013.  Rescued off the shore of Long Island in 2000, her left front flipper had become infected and, in order to save her life, required amputation.

Maryland Mountains to the Sea

Maryland: Mountains to the Sea, at Level 2, features animals that are native to Maryland. The four exhibits create the illusion that the viewer is traveling down a Maryland stream (painted turtle, wood turtle, American bullfrog, rosyside dace, etc.) from its source in the Allegheny Mountains, to a tidal marsh (diamondback terrapin, feather blenny, sheeps head minnow, etc.), to a coastal beach (striped burrfish and blue crab), and finally ending at the Atlantic shelf (clearnose skate and summer flounder).

Surviving Through Adaptation – Electric Eel

Surviving Through Adaptation, Living Seashore, at Level 3, features fish (electric eel, chambered nautilus, and giant Pacific octopus) that possess adaptations  needed to survive in their various environments.

Clearnose skate at the Touch pool at Wings in the Water

Touch pool with moon jellies

Living Seashore, giving guests the opportunity to explore the ever-changing Mid-Atlantic shoreline, features two touch pools and a variety of hands-on experiences. Animals guests can interact with include clearnose skate, Atlantic stingray, horseshoe crab, knobbed whelk, and moon jelly.

Atlantic puffins at the Sea Cliffs Exhibit

Sea Cliffs, Kelp Forest, Pacific Coral Reef, Amazon River Forest, at Level 4, displays several aquatic habitats, including a sea cliffs exhibit (houses several species of seabirds such as the Atlantic puffin); a Pacific coral reef exhibit (Banggai cardinalfish, etc.); a kelp forest exhibit; and an Amazon River forest exhibit (in which animals such as the Arrau turtle can be seen down in the water and up in the overlying foliage).

Upland Tropical Rain Forest, Hidden Life

The sun-filled Upland Tropical Rain Forest, Hidden Life, at Level 5, simulates the Amazon rainforest under the glass pyramid that tops the National Aquarium.

Yellow-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulata)

It includes two elevated platforms for bird-watching and a cave of various glass-enclosed displays of reptiles, amphibians, and terrestrial arthropods. Exiting the rainforest, visitors head back down an escalator and are dropped at the top of a spiral ramp.

Grace, Kyle and Cheska at elevated platform

Animals featured here include Golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) and pygmy marmosets playing among the treetops; piranhas swiming in an open tank; a tarantula living in a glass-enclosed log; Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber); Sunbittern (Eurypyga helias); Yellow-headed amazon (Amazona oratrix); White-tailed trogon (Trogon viridis); Blue-crowned motmot (Momotus momota); Blue-gray tanager (Thraupis episcopus); Blue poison dart frog (Dendrobates azureus) and Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus).

Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki)

Poison Dart Frog (Ranitameya imitator)

Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber)

The large Atlantic Coral Reef, replicating the Atlantic coral reef, is filled with more than 500 exotic species that would be found anywhere from closer to shore to out into the trench and open ocean, including a green moray eel, triggerfish, and porcupine fish.

Atlantic Coral Reef

Shark Alley: Atlantic Predators, an 850,000 liter (225,000 US-gallon), ring-shaped exhibit, features sharks of varying sizes and species, including sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, and sawfish that slowly encircle visitors.

Nurse shark

The smaller Pier 4 Pavilion, opened in 1990, features the marine mammal exhibit and is connected to Pier 3 by an enclosed bridge.  It is home to Dolphin Discovery, a 4,900,000 liter (1,300,000 US-gallon) pool housing seven Atlantic bottlenose dolphins – two males (Foster, Beau) and five females (Maya, Spirit, Chesapeake, Bayley, Jade).

Dolphin Discovery

Chesapeake was the first dolphin born at the aquarium in 1992 while Bayley, born in 2008, is the youngest. Guests here can watch training, feeding, and play times with the dolphins and interact with dolphin experts (“Dolphin Talk”) in the dolphin auditorium (has floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the bay).

A pair of bottlenose dolphins

The pavilion also holds “Jellies Invasion: Oceans Out of Balance,”a temporary exhibit, showcases 12 different species of jellyfish – Atlantic sea nettle (Chrysaora quinquecirrha), Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens), Purple-striped jellyfish (Chrysaora colorata), Northern sea nettle (Chrysaora melanaster), Black sea nettle (Chrysaora achlyos), Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), Egg-yolk jellyfish (Phacellophora camtschatica), Lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), Spotted jelly (Mastigias papua), Blue blubber jellyfish (Catostylus mosaicus), Upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) and Leidy’s comb jellyfish (Mnemiopsis leidyi).

Jellies Invasion – Oceans Out of Balance

It also illustrates how these animals are important bioindicators, which means that they are sensitive to changes within their environment, and therefore, serve as an early warning sign that changes are occurring within an ecosystem, whether from pollution, invasive species, climate change, or other factors.

Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens)

Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes, at the Glass Pavilion, is structured like a large walk-in aviary (similar to the Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibit) that allows many of the flying animals to roam freely throughout the exhibit. The exhibit, representing a river gorge in the northern region of outback Australia, is designed to show the wild extremes faced by this particular part of Australia (fire, drought and flood).  Containing many pools in which Australian aquatic life can be found, guests here can see more than 1,800 individual native animals including freshwater crocodiles, turtles, free-flying birds, snakes, lizards and flying foxes.

Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes

The renovation and a multimillion-dollar Glass Pavilion north extension of the National Aquarium, started on September 5, 2002 and completed on December 16, 2005, is 120 ft (37 m) high at the tallest point and is entered through doors in a three-storey, soaring wall of glass.  It features an expanded portion of 5,990 m2 (64,500 sq. ft.) whose exterior features an interactive area designed to teach visitors about bayscaping, bird-box building, the National Aquarium’s nationally recognized Marine Animal Rescue Program, water quality testing, marine debris issues and wetland restoration.

Waterfall

Inside, directly in the main entrance, is a prominent display (also visible from outside) of a super cool, 11 m. (35-ft.) high waterfall, over which 1,000 gallons a minute tumble, modeled after an actual waterfall in a Maryland state park.  Also inside is a recreation of an Australian habitat featuring more than 50 plants, all indigenous to Australia. Carefully depicted inside the upper portion is the Umbrawarra Gorge of Australia.  About 60,000 gallons of fresh water circulate in the seven Australian-themed exhibits. The gorge exhibit, depicting lands of fire, drought and flood, also features aboriginal artwork based on actual work discovered in Australia and depicting aboriginal interpretations of the land that they live on.

The 1,800 Australian animals featured here include the Gray-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), Laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), Rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus), Zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), Snake-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis), Pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta), Black-headed python (Aspidites melanocephalus), Death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus), Frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii), Spiny-tailed monitor (Varanus acanthurus), Freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus johnstoni), Empire gudgeon (Hypseleotris compressa), Archerfish (Toxotes chatareus) and Barramundi (Lates calcarifer).

There’s also a gift shop and a food court with a small selection of food (pizza, popcorn, ice cream, sandwiches, cupcakes, cookies, etc), catered from Sodexo, with plenty of seating.

Gift Shop

National Aquarium: 501 East Pratt St., Pier 3, Inner Harbor, Baltimore 21202, Maryland. Open 9 AM – 5 PM. The tiered ticket structure  allows aquarium admission with or without the dolphin show or the 4D Immersion Theater. You can purchase or pick up tickets from the kiosk on Pier Three in front of the main building (the westernmost structure), then enter the main building’s doors farthest from the ticket kiosk. Members enter the doors closest to ticketing. Admission: adults (US$39.95), children (3-11, US$24.95). The dolphin show and the 4D Immersion Theater are optional experiences. They do not offer student discounts. Tickets for the 4D movies are an extra US$5. Tel: 410-576-3800. Website: www.aqua.org.

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor (Maryland, USA)

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Inner Harbor

The Inner Harbor District, a historic seaport, tourist attraction and landmark of the city, is located within walking distance of Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, at the mouth of Jones Falls, creating the wide and short northwest branch of the Patapsco River.

The name “Inner Harbor” includes any water west of a line drawn between the foot of President Street and the American Visionary Art Museum plus the surrounding area within the approximate street boundaries of President Street to the east, Lombard Street to the north, Greene Street to the west, and Key Highway on the south.

The author (lower right corner) walking along the waterfront

The Inner Harbor, with its historically shallow water (prior to manipulation through dredging), was not conducive to large ships or heavy industry and, in the 1950s, suffered from the economic decline with the arrival of container ships after World War II as well as restructuring common to many industrial cities in the United States, ending both its freight and passenger use.

Jandy crossing a pedestrian bridge

To reverse the city’s decline and reconnect Baltimore with its waterfront, the Inner Harbor was gradually transformed with award-winning parks and plazas surrounded by office buildings, hotels and leisure attractions, starting with the adoption of the 13 hectare (33-acre) Charles Center project.

Children frolicking at a fountain

Between 1958 and 1965, Baltimore renewed this center of its business district with office buildings, hotels and retail shops. In 1963, the redevelopment program was expanded to include 97 hectares (240 acres) surrounding the Inner Harbor with corporate headquarters and hotels being built around the shoreline, with a public park and promenade added for leisure activity and community gatherings.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Following the U.S. Bicentennial, other tourist attractions were developed such as the National Aquarium, the Maryland Science Center and the Harbor Place Festival Marketplace (opened on July 4, 1980 and operated by The Rouse Company). The nearby Baltimore Convention Center and Hyatt Regency Baltimore Hotel added to the services, resulting in increased population density and attracting a huge number of tourists.

In recent years, Inner Harbor East, the area along the waterfront to the east of the Inner Harbor (in the direction of Fells Point and Little Italy), has been developed with mixed-use developments incorporating office space, condominiums, street-level retail space, restaurants and hotels.

In the 1970s and 1980s, with the success of the renewal of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the city became a worldwide tourist destination and a model of urban renaissance, planning and development in cities around the world, influencing more than 100 other cities and winning more than 40 national or international awards.  In 1984, the American Institute of Architects cited it as “one of the supreme achievements of large-scale urban design and development in U.S. history. In 2009, the Urban Land Institute described it as “the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world.”

Federal Hill Park

Federal Hill Park (300 Warren Ave.), a former lookout during the War of 1812 and the Civil War located on the south side of the Inner Harbor, allows visitors to take in ​a dramatic view of Baltimore’s cityscape from the top of the hill.

National Aquarium in Baltimore

The National Aquarium in Baltimore (501 E. Pratt St., Pier 3 and Pier 4, Inner Harbor) has a collection of more than 16,500 specimens representing 660 species, with exhibits including a multi-storey Atlantic coral reef, an open ocean shark tank, a 4-D immersion theater, a tropical rain forest, a glass pavilion with Australian wildlife, and a mammal pavilion that holds Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.

Check out “National Aquarium in Baltimore“

Sloop-of-War USS Constellation

The Historic Ships in Baltimore (Piers 1, 3, and 5) features four historic ships permanently docked in the harbor that visitors can climb aboard and experience – the USS Constellation (first launched in 1854, it is the only Civil War-era ship still afloat), USCGC Taney (last fighting ship still afloat that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor), the USS Torsk (a Tench-class submarine, it is the last ship to sink an enemy vessel in World War II) and the Lightship Chesapeake (a U.S. Coast Guard lightship from the 1930s) plus the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse.

Check out “The Historic Ships of Baltimore,” “USS Constellation Museum”  and “USCGC Taney“

Harborplace and the Gallery

Harborplace and the Gallery (Light and Pratt Sts.) are two pavilions with a mix of local and national restaurants and stores, plus Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium (has 500 of Ripley’s trademark “oddities” in seven different galleries, plus a mirror maze and a 4-D movie theater)

Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Odditorium

Maryland Science Center (601 Light St.) has 3 levels of exhibits, a planetarium, and an IMAX theater plus a special exhibit on blue crabs.

Maryland Science Center

Top of the World (401 E. Pratt St.) an observation deck on the 27th floor of the Baltimore World Trade Center, offers sweeping a 360-degree birds-eye views of the city. On the pedestrian promenade outside the building is a memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Baltimore World Trade Center

Port Discovery Children’s Museum (35 Market Place), on the site of the historic Baltimore Fish Market, is a children’s museum with a three-story jungle gym specifically designed for kids ages 2-10.

Holocaust Memorial

American Visionary Art Museum (800 Key Highway), a mosaic-clad museum, has a  collection of offbeat, innovative art produced by self-taught individuals, plus free outdoor movies and the Kinetic Sculpture Race.

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African-American History and Culture (830 E. Pratt St.), the largest of its kind on the East Coast, is dedicated to preserving the stories of the Maryland African American community, past and present.

Baltimore Civil War Museum

Baltimore Museum of Industry (1415 Key Highway), located in an old cannery, holds exhibits on various types of manufacturing and industry from the early 20th century. one of its star attractions is the Baltimore, the oldest surviving steam tugboat and a National Historic Landmark.

Baltimore Visitors Center

The Baltimore Visitor Center (401 Light St.), just north of the Maryland Science Center, has touch-screen kiosks that tell visitors where to go, and staff can help clue you into events happening in the city. It also has public restrooms inside.

Philips Seafood

Power Plant Live! (601 E Pratt St.), the former Pratt Street Power Plant  located 2 blocks north of the Inner Harbor, is an entertainment complex that comes alive at night with bars,  clubs, restaurants and music venues that includes Phillips Seafood, Rams Head Live!,  Hard Rock Cafe (opened July 4, 1997) plus Barnes & Noble and Maryland Art Place (a contemporary art gallery for Maryland artists).

Hard Rock Cafe

Other places to visit here include the Lloyd Street Synagogue (the third-oldest synagogue in the United States, now the Jewish Museum of Maryland), Civil War Museum (President Street Station), Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, Dr. Samuel D. Harris Museum of Dentistry (University of Maryland), Babe Ruth birthplace and museum, Oriole Park at Camden Yards (home of the Baltimore Orioles), Camden Yards Sports Complex, Columbus Center (home of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute), Bnai Israel (a Moorish Revival synagogue now open as a museum), Holocaust Memorial  (E Lombard and S Gay St.), Lockwood Place, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum (a privately owned pop culture museum at Camden Station opened last September 2006), M&T Bank Stadium (home of the Baltimore Ravens), Royal Farms Arena and the Pier Six Pavilion (a music venue at 731 Eastern Ave.)

Pier Six Pavilion

Blue and white water taxis (US&6-12), from 17 locations, connect passengers from the Inner Harbor to Fells Point, Canton, and Fort McHenry.

Check out “Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine – Birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner

Water Taxi

You can explore the Inner Harbor on a traditional paddle boat (US$12 per half-hour rental) or the colorful Chesapeake Bay ‘Chessie’ Monster (US version of Scotland’s ‘Nessie,’ US$20 per half-hour rental),  both classic childhood favorites. Both boats hold up to four occupants. If you don’t feel like paddling, there’s the electric boat (half-hour rental – US$10 for one person or US$15 for two).

Cheska, Jandy, Grace and Kyle in a Chessie

Visitors can also explore the harbor via the red and purple-bottomed Cruises on the Bay by Watermark (US$6-17) and the larger yacht Spirit of Baltimore (US$42 and up); the bright yellow speedboats of Seadog Cruises (US$20 range) and the wood-paneled pirate ship The Fearless by Urban Pirates (US$20-25).

Spirit of Baltimore

Cruise ships also offer narrated, 45-min. tours of the Inner Harbor where you’ll learn about the city’s maritime and industrial history as well as the resurgence of the waterfront, Federal Hill, and Fells Point.  You can also avail of 60-min. tours focusing on Fort McHenry, 90-min. cocktail cruises and spectacular 60-min. “city lights” tours. 

Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building

The landmark Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, an annex of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is a focus for learning, connoisseurship, and sheer enjoyment of works of art and an important catalyst for the Philadelphia region’s ongoing cultural renaissance. Its style reflects the moment of transition from early twentieth-century historicism to the geometric Art Deco design of the 1920s and 1930s.

Skylit Walkway

Set within a lively urban neighborhood and occupying a trapezoid-shaped, two-acre site bordered by Pennsylvania and Fairmount Avenues and 25th and 26th Streets, it faces the main building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art across Kelly Drive and is among the most distinctive architectural structures along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Julien Levy Gallery

The Perelman Building, one of the finest Art Deco structures in Philadelphia, was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm Zantzinger, Borie and Medary (together with architects Horace Trumbauer and Julian Abele, they also designed the Museum’s main building) to be the headquarters for Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company which occupied the building until 1972.

The Valley (2006, Kelli Connell) – Julien Levy Gallery

Its color advisor was the scholar Leon Solon who also advised the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the color scheme of its celebrated glazed terra cotta decoration and pediment. Its decorative scheme was created by sculptor Lee Lawrie (1877–1963) whose work also adorns the Rockefeller Center, the Library of Congress and the National Academy of Sciences.

The Mountain Nymph Sweet Liberty (1866, carbon print, Julia Margaret Cameron) – Julien Levy Gallery

Construction of the building began in 1926 and, upon completion in 1928, was called “the Gateway to Fairmount Park.”  The original structure had 125,000 sq. ft. of interior space. In 1973, the structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1980 in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

Call and I Follow, Let Me Die (1867, carbon print, Julia Margaret Cameron) – Julien Levy Gallery

In 1982, the building was acquired and restored by the Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company which, in turn, relocated in 1999. That same year, the Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired the building through the City of Philadelphia. In 2000, in recognition of the US$15 million contributed by the Perelmans, the annex was renamed the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building.

Collab Gallery

In anticipation of the museum’s 125th anniversary in 2001, Gluckman Mayner Architects was selected for the restoration and renovation of the historic building, In October 2004, following a groundbreaking celebration for its donors (US$240 million in donations were collected), the major construction began in earnest and the original building was expanded by a 5,500 m2 (59,000 sq. ft.) addition (a library; a café overlooking a landscaped terrace; a new bookstore; a soaring skylit walkway; etc.).  The Perelman Building was opened on September 15, 2007.

The elaborate polychrome façade, the most elaborately sculpted facade of any twentieth-century building in the city of Philadelphia, is built with Indiana limestone highlighted with color and gilding and lavishly decorated with Egyptian-inspired sculpture of flora and fauna symbolizing attributes of insurance – owl (wisdom), dog (fidelity), pelican (charity), opossum (protection) and the squirrel (frugality). There are also numerous other reliefs such as the Seven Ages of Man and the Perils of Land, Sea, and Air on the Earth’s Four Great Continents. 

Joan Spain Gallery

The building’s north and south pavilions are joined by a soaring, cathedral-like arched main entrance facing the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a celebrated example of Philadelphia’s inspired urban planning of which the building was designed to be an integral part. It also has gleaming rows of windows and a bright interior.

The Perelman Building has now been dramatically recast in a new role as the gateway to the future for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the first phase of a master plan to expand and modernize the Museum. The new six galleries, totaling 190 m2 (2,000 sq. ft.) of exhibition space, and study centers showcase some of the Museum’s most comprehensive, colorful, and cutting-edge collections. The galleries are:

  • The Julien Levy Gallery – dedicated to photographs from the museum’s collection of over 150,000 prints, drawings, and photographs.
  • The Joan Spain Gallery – dedicated to exhibition of the museum’s costume and textiles collection, which has over 30,000 works.
  • The Collab Gallery – shows modern and contemporary design art ranging from furniture to ceramics.
  • The Exhibition Gallery – hosts changing special exhibitions.
  • Two study galleries provide resources to art scholars (available to the public by appointment) and an educational resource center for teachers.
  • The museum library – holds collections of art books and periodicals on the first floor and a reading room on the second floor

Monument to Victor Hugo (Auguste Rodin)

Like the main museum building, the Rodin Museum, and two historic houses in Fairmount Park (Mount Pleasant and Cedar Grove), the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building is owned by the City of Philadelphia.

Cafe

Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building: Fairmount and Pennsylvania Aves., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Von Kienbusch Galleries of Arms and Armor (Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

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Von Kienbusch Galleries of Arms and Armor

Aside from paintings, the Philadelphia Museum of Art  also houses the arms and armor collection bequeathed by the celebrated collector, distinguished connoisseur and scholar Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch (1884–1976) to the museum in 1976, the Bicentennial Anniversary of the American Revolution. The city was the host of the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, and a selection of presentation firearms and ammunition was sent from the exhibition to the Smithsonian Institute, where is still remains.

Check out “”Philadelphia Museum of Art”

House Armor of Duke Ulrich of Wurttemburg (1507), a German duke and supporter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I of Austria.

Incidentally, Philadelphia was home to English and German gunsmiths of the 18th and 19th century, as well as the Frankford Arsenal ammunition plant. Whilst Philadelphia took a secondary role in the industrial production of firearms, it did provide the gunsmiths who built the prototype guns.

A display of crossbows

The comprehensive Von Kienbusch holdings of arms and armor, among the finest of their kind in the world and the last great East Coast collection of pre-percussion arms and armor, include European (Germany, France, Spain, Austria, England, Italy, Scotland, etc.) and Southwest Asian (Iran and Turkey)  arms and armor spanning several centuries.

European swords

A new baronial hall was built for the complete horse and human armors and armor elements, crossbows, swords, thrusting pikes, staff weapons, edged weapons and related accessories drawn, for the most part, from the princely armories of Europe that brought together figurative and decorative artistry with technically demanding metallurgy and lock work.

A collection of helmets

Additionally, the collection includes rare shooting accoutrements such as princely match lock, wheel lock and flint lock pistols; rifles, and smooth bore muskets, many from Kienbusch’s native Germany.

A complete cuirassier suit of armor (Northern Italian, artist/maker unknown)

A small but epicurean collection of pistols from France, Spain, England, Italy and Scotland, from the sixteenth to eighteenth century, include steel and silver stocked Scottish pistols, a pair of French Napoleonic Empire dueling pistols made by Nicolas-Noel Boutet, a Spanish wheel lock pistol embellished with the finest silver filigree, and an Italian flintlock with a solid ivory stock.

A collection of flintlock muskets

Hunting rifles, once belonging to Emperor Ferdinand III and Emperor Charles VI of Austria, are embellished with gold, ivory and silver, some with allegorical hunting scenes and others.

Etched, partially russeted and gilded steel half armor for use on field (Milan, 1600 CE)

Other highlights include a Hungarian hauberk (shirt) of mail for ceremonial use; armor, made by Pompeo della Cesa (Italian, active  Milan, c. 1537 – 1610) for use in the tourney fought on foot over the barriers; a wheel lock gun made by Stephan Klett (German, active Suhl, recorded 1578 – 1612); a ceremonial mace; a lantern shield; a rapier blade made by bladesmith Clemens Meigen (German, active Solingen, late 16th century); a gorget; a staff weapon ( langdebeve or ox tongue spear); powder flasks carved from deer antlers; petite priming powder flasks made of mother-of-pearl inlaid with silver, and a bandolier of seven wooden powder flasks dangling on cord from a velvet shoulder belt.

Von Kienbusch Galleries of Arms and Armor: Gallery 347, 3/F, Kretzschmar , Main Building, Philadelphia Museum of Art: 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Open daily (except Tuesdays and Wednesdays), 10 AM to 5 PM (8:45 PM on Fridays).  Admission: $25  (adults),  $23 (seniors,65 years old and over), $14 (students with valid ID0,  $12 (member guests) and free  for members and youth (18 & under).  Tel: +1 215-763-8100 . Website: www.philamuseum.org. Coordinates: 39°57′57″N 75°10′53″W.

Second Bank of the United States Building (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) 

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Second Bank of the United States Building

The Second Bank of the United States, the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank in the United States during its 20-year charter (February 1816 to January 1836), was modeled on Alexander Hamilton‘s First Bank of the United States and was chartered by President James Madison in 1816.

National Historic Site Plaque

The Second Bank of the United States was designed by architect William Strickland (1788–1854), a former student of Benjamin Latrobe (1764–1820), the man who is often called the first professionally trained American architect.

Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank of the United States

Like Latrobe, Strickland was a disciple of the stylistic Greek Revival style, designing this building (in essence based on the Parthenon in Athens, Greece) as well as other American public buildings in this style, including financial structures such as the New Orleans, Dahlonega, Mechanics National Bank (also in Philadelphia) and Charlotte branch mints in the mid-to-late 1830s, as well as the second building for the main U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 1833.

The hallmarks of this  significant early and monumental example of Greek Revival architecture can be seen immediately in the north and south façades, which use a large set of steps leading up to the stylobate, the main level platform, on top of which Strickland placed 8 severe Doric columns, which are crowned by an entablature containing a triglyph frieze and simple triangular pediment.

In the center of the north façade is an entrance hallway, leading into two central rooms one after the other (spanning the width of the structure east to west), flanked by two rooms on either side. The east and west sides of the first large room are each pierced by large arched fan window.

Carved Pine Statue of George Washington (William Rush, 1814)

Built from 1819 to 1824, Pennsylvania blue marble was used in the building’s exterior.  Due to the manner in which it was cut, the weak parts of the marble has begun to deteriorate from the exposure to the elements, most visible on the Doric columns of the south façade.

Tayendanegea – Joseph Brant (Charles Wilson Peale, Oil on Canvas, 1797)

The bank began operations at its main branch in Philadelphia on January 7, 1817, managing 25 branch offices nationwide by 1832. After the bank closed in 1841, the building changed hands and function.  It eventually became the Custom House in Philadelphia resulting in some changes to the interior and exterior of the building.

John Witherspoon (Charles Wilson Peale, Oil on Canvas, 1783-1784)

Except for the barrel vaulted ceiling, the marble columns in the main banking room and the side flue fireplaces, little remains of the building’s original interior design.  Still, for its architectural and historic significance, the building was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Marquis De Lafayette (Thomas Sully, 1825-1826)

The edifice, now part of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, houses the Portrait Gallery, an art gallery housing the large, permanent “People of Independence” exhibit, a collection of over 150 portraits of prominent 18th and 19th century political leaders, military officers, explorers and scientists, all worthy Personages” who, according to noted artist Charles Willson Peale (his more than 100 portraits form the core of the collection), exhibited the republican virtues of public-spiritedness, self-sacrifice, and civic virtue.

George Washington (Rembrandt Peale, Oil on Canvas, 1848)

These portraits, as well as other works by his son Rembrandt and his brother James, were once exhibited in Peale’s Philadelphia Museum, located on the second floor of Independence Hall. Peale died in 1828 and his museum was struggling financially.

Bust of Benjamin Franklin

In 1848, at auction, the City of Philadelphia purchased 86 of Peale’s portraits. Through the years, additional portraits have been added to the collection including a number by British pastel artists James and Ellen Sharples.

James Peale

Second Bank of the United States: Chestnut Street, between 4th and 5th Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.  Admission is free.  Through September 3, 2018, open daily 11 AM – 5 PM; September 4 – 30, 2018, open Wednesday – Sunday, 11 AM – 5 PM; October 1 – December 31, 2018, open Saturday – Sunday, 11 AM – 5 PM.

The Moshulu (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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Moshulu

After our visit to the Independence Seaport Museum and the museum ships USS Olympia and USS Becuna, Jandy and I, our curiosity piqued, hopped over to the adjacent Moshulu which was also docked at Penn’s Landing.  We discovered it was a floating restaurant and, as it wasn’t officially opened yet (it opens at 5 PM), asked permission if we could explore this  four-masted steel barque, a first for both of us.

Check out “Independence Seaport Museum,” “Independence Seaport Museum – USS Olympia” and “Independence Seaport Museum – USS Becuna“

We weren’t here to try out its food but the Moshulu’s dining rooms and outdoor decks do take full advantage of the unparalleled views of the city skyline and waterfront.

The author at the upper deck of the Moshulu

Jandy

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this ship:

  • The Moshulu is the largest remaining original windjammer in the world. Whilst windjammers exist and sail the seas to this day, the last windjammer carrying cargo was the Peruvian Omega (ex Drumcliff) which was in use until her loss in 1958.
  • She was built by William Hamilton and Company, on the River Clyde in Scotland and, along with her sister ship Hans, was one of the last four-masted steel barques to be built on the river (Archibald Russell was launched in 1905).
  • Moshulu is the world’s oldest and largest square rigged sailing vessel still afloat.
  • She is the only restaurant venue on a tall ship in the world.
  • The Moshulu was originally named Kurtafter Dr. Kurt Siemers, director-general and president of H. J. Siemers & Co, a Hamburg shipping company.
  • She was built at a cost of £36,000.
  • The Moshulu was built for G. H. J. Siemers & Co. and originally used in the nitrate trade.
  • Moshulu was made famous by the books of famous travel writer  Eric Newby who, at the age of 18, was apprenticed aboard the Moshulu, joining the ship in Belfast in 1938. The journey was documented in Newby’s books The Last Grain Race (1956, refers to the last grain race before the outbreak of World War II) and Learning the Ropes: An Apprentice in the Last of the Windjammers (1999, contains more than 150 of the photographs Newby took while aboard).
  • Moshulu’s route to Australia took her around Cape Horn a remarkable 54 times without incident.
  • On June 10, 1939, Moshulu wins the very last race of square-rigged sailing ships between Australia and Europe while carrying 59,000 bags of grain, weighing 4875 tons with a record speed of 16 knots in 91 days (15,000 miles) from Australia to Queenstown Cobh Ireland, a faster passage than that of any of the other sailing ships making similar passages that year.
  • Its restaurant has gained recognition as an award winning, AAA 4 Diamond rated Restaurant, Bar and Deck.

The Moshulu had the following general characteristics:

  • Length: 121 m. (396 ft., overall), 109 m. (359 ft., on deck), 102.2 m. (33.5.3 ft., between perpendiculars)
  • Beam: 14.3 m. (46.9 ft.)
  • Height: 65 m. (212 ft., keel to masthead truck), 56 m. (185 ft., main deck to masthead truck)
  • Draft: 7.4 m. (24.3 ft.) at 5,300 tons
  • Depth: 8.5 m. (28 ft., depth molded)
  • Depth of Hold: 8.1 m. (26.6 ft.)
  • Displacement: 7,000 ts (1,700 ts ship + 5,300 ts cargo)
  • Sail Plan: 180 m²; 34 sails: 18 square sails, 3 spankers, 13 staysails
  • Depths: 2 continuous steel decks, poop, midship bridge and forecastle decks
  • Installed Power: no auxiliary propulsion; donkey enginefor sail winches, steam rudder
  • Propulsion: wind
  • Highest Recorded Speed: 17 knots(31 kms./hr.)
  • Complement: 35 crew (maximum)
  • Crew: 33 (captain, 1st & 2nd mate, 1 steward, 29 able seamen)[
  • Boats & landing craft carried: 4 lifeboats

Here’s a timeline of the ship’s history:

  • On April 18, 1904, the Kurt was launched with Captain Christian Schütt as her first master.
  • Between 1904 and 1914, under German ownership, Kurt shipped coal from Wales to South America, nitrate from Chile to Germany, coal from Australia to Chile, and coke and patent fuel from Germany to Santa Rosalía, Mexico.
  • In 1908, under the command of Captain Wolfgang H. G. Tönissen, she made a fast voyage from Newcastle, Australia, to Valparaíso with a cargo of coal in 31 days.
  • In 1914, upon the outbreak of World War I, Kurt was sailed to Oregon, under the command of Captain Tönissen, then laid up in Astoria.
  • In 1917, when the United States entered the war, she was seized as prize booty, kept in commission and  temporarily renamed the Dreadnought (“one who fears nothing”) but, as there was already a sailing ship of that name registered in the US, she was renamed the Moshulu (which had the same meaning in the Seneca language) by Edith Wilson, the First Lady of the United States and wife of President Woodrow Wilson (who was of Indian extraction herself).
  • Between 1917 and 1920, Moshulu was owned by the U.S. Shipping Board and carried wool and chrome between North America, Manila and Australia.
  • From 1920 to 1922, it was owned by the Moshulu Navigation Co. (Charles Nelson & Co., a lumber firm) of San Francisco
  • In 1922, Moshulu was sold to James Tyson of San Francisco and, that same year, was repurchased by Charles Nelson.
  • From 1920 to 1928, the big four-masted barque ran in the timber trade along the U.S. west coast to Australia and South Africa.
  • In 1928, after her last timber run to Melbourne and Geelong, Australia, Moshulu was laid up in Los Angeles.
  • Later on, she was kept in places in or near Seattle, Washington: Lake Union, Winslow on (Puget Sound), and Esquimaltin British Columbia, Canada 190 kms. (100 nautical miles) northwest of Seattle.
  • In 1935, the Moshulu was bought for $12,000 by Gustaf Erikson of Finland, a successful ship owner of 25 vessels, 11 four-masted barque windjammers, who had found profits in bringing grain from Australia.
  • On March 14, 1935, when the contract was signed, Captain Gunnar Boman took over the ship and sailed Moshulu to Port Victoria. Gustaf Erikson had her operate in the grain trade from Australia to Europe. During the period of Erikson ownership the working language of the ship was Swedish, even though it sailed under the Finnish flag. The ship’s home port at the time, Mariehamn, is in the Swedish-speaking Åland Islandsof Finland.
  • At the end of 1938, the ship left Belfast, under the command of Captain Mikael Sjögren, sailing to Port Lincoln, in South Australia, with a load of ballast stone, arriving there in 82 days, a good passage for a windjammer. In Port Victoria, Moshulu took 4,875 tons of bagged grain on board and began her return voyage to Ireland. She had a crew of 33, which included two Americans, J. Ferrell Colton of Molokai, Hawaii (publisher of “Windjammer Significant”) and John W. Albright of Long Beach, California (who would become a square rigged ship captain himself).
  • On June 10, 1939, Moshulu arrives in Queenstown (Cobh, Ireland) winning the very last race of square-rigged sailing ships between Australia and Europe.
  • In November 1942, when she returned to Kristiansand, Norway, again under the command of Captain Mikael Sjögren and with a cargo of wheat from Buenos Aires, the ship was seized by the Germans and, step-by-step, stripped of her mast and spars.
  • in 1947, after breaking her mooring and capsizing in a storm close to shore at a beach in Østervik near Narvik,  she was demasted by a salvaging company
  • On July 1948, she was re-erected, stabilized and towed to Bergen. The ship’s hull was sold to Trygve Sommerfeldt of Oslo.
  • A few months later, the ship was transferred to Sweden
  • From 1948 to 1952, she was used as a grain store in Stockholm.
  • She was then sold to the German ship owner Heinz Schliewen, who wanted to put her back to use under the name Oplagas, a merchant marine training ship carrying cargo. Schliewen already used the four-masted steel barques Pamir and Passat (both former Flying P-Liners) for that purpose, but before Moshulu was re-rigged, Schliewen went into bankruptcy.
  • In 1953 Moshulu was sold to the Swedish Farmers’ State Union (Svenska Lantmännens Riksförbund) of Stockholm
  • Beginning on November 16, 1953, she was used as a floating warehouse.
  • In 1961, the FinnishState Granary bought the ship for 3,200 tons of Russian rye.  She was towed to a small and picturesque bay in Naantali, a town near Turku, and she continued to be used as a grain warehouse.
  • In 1970, the ship was bought by David Tallichet of the American Specialty Restaurants Corporation, who rigged her out in Scheveningen, Netherlands with machine (not hand) welded masts, yards, standing rigging and lines, of lighter materials. Other sources have it that The Walt Disney Company bought the ship but soon transferred it to the American “Specialty Restaurants Corporation.”
  • In 1974, she was towed to South Street Seaport, New York City.
  • In 1975, the Moshulu was opened as a restaurant
  • In 1989, the she closed after being damaged by a four-alarm fire.
  • In 1994, the Moshulu was purchased by HMS Ventures, Inc. and, under Mrs. Dodo Hamilton of the Campbell’s Soup family, was painstakingly restored in Camden to her original glory
  • In 1996, it was docked at Pier 34 on Philadelphia’s waterfront and opened as a restaurant on the Delaware River.
  • In 2002, the Moshulu was relocated to its current location under restaurateur Martin Grims.
  • On May 2003, its current owners, SCC Restaurants LLC, reopened the restaurant. 

Reception

The Moshulu was featured in the following movies:

Moshulu: Penn’s Landing, 401 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106 (Click here for map). Tel: 215.923.2500. Fax: 215.829.1604.  E-mail: info@moshulu.com.  Website: www.moshulu.com. Open Mondays– Thursdays, 5 to 9 PM; Fridays & Saturdays, 5 to 10PM; Sundays 10AM to 2:30PM and 5 to 9PM.

Rodin Museum (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

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Rodin Museum

The Rodin Museum, an art museum containing one of the largest collections of sculptor Auguste Rodin‘s works outside Paris, is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Our entrance ticket to the Philadelphia Museum of Art also included entry to this museum but it just so happened to be closed, it being a Tuesday. However, the Dorrance H. Hamilton Garden, just outside the Museum displays eight of Rodin’s works.

Check out “Philadelphia Museum of Art”

The author in front of the Meudon Gate

The only dedicated Rodin Museum outside France, it houses a distinguished  collection of nearly 150 objects containing bronzes, marbles, and plasters by Auguste Rodin, representing every phase of his career.

The elegant Beaux-Arts–style building and garden, nestled between the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s main building the Free Library of Philadelphia (opened its central Logan Square location in 1927), was the gift of founder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Jules E. Mastbaum (1872–1926) to the city of Philadelphia.

This movie-theater magnate began collecting works by Rodin in 1923 with the intent of founding a museum to enrich the lives of his fellow citizens. Within just three years, he had assembled the largest collection of Rodin’s works outside Paris, including bronze castings, plaster studies, drawings, prints, letters and books.

In 1926, Mastbaum commissioned French architect Paul Cret (1876–1945) and French landscape designer Jacques Gréber (1882–1962) to design the unique ensemble of Beaux-Arts building and formal French gardens.  The murals inside the museum were executed by the painter Franklin C. Watkins.

Dorrance H. Hamilton Garden

However, Mastbaum did not live to see his dream realized, but Etta Wedell Mastbaum, his widow, honored his commitment to the city, and the Museum opened on November 29, 1929. It was immediately embraced and celebrated and, in its first year, drew over 390,000 visitors, including poet and dramatist Paul Claudel, the French Ambassador to the U.S..

Adam, a bronze cast of an 1880-81 statue made by Rodin

In 2012, the museum re-opened after a three-year, US$9 million renovation that brought the museum back to its original vision of displaying Rodin’s works. Today, the Rodin Museum is one of the defining icons of Philadelphia.

The Gates of Hell, standing at 6 m. high, 4 m. wide and 1 m. deep (19.7×13.1×3.3 ft.), contains 180 figures, several of which were also cast as independent free-standing statues, and depicts a scene from the Inferno, the first section of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.

Visitors once entered through The Gates of Hell, a massive 5.5-m-tall bronze doorway (which is no longer used) that was originally created for the Museum of Decorative Arts (which was to have been located in Paris but never came into existence).

The Thinker. Its pose is one of deep thought and contemplation. The statue is often used as an image to represent philosophy.

From 1880 until his death in 1917, Rodin sculpted more than 100 figures for these doors. This casting is one of the three originals; several others have been made since. Several of his most famous works, including The Thinker (1880–1882), the best-known of Rodin’s worksfirst seen as an independent work in 1883, are actually studies for these doors which were later expanded into separate works.

The Three Shades(Les Trois Ombres) are a sculptural group of three identical figures gathered around a central point, produced in plaster in 1886 for his The Gates of Hell, .

For the first time since 1963, recent advances in conservation, undertaken by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, have permitted the return of Adam and The Shade to their original places within the arches of the Meudon Gate.

Meudon Gate, the museum’s portico, with Adam and The Shade located within the arches.

The Age of Bronze  (Rodin’s breakthrough sculpture) and Eve has also returned to the niches they once occupied on either side of the museum’s portico overlooking the reflecting pool. A version of the monumental The Three Shades, a generous loan from Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, sits on the building’s west side in a space that was vacant for most of the last eighty years.

The Burghers of Calais (1895). This bronze figure group commemorates six merchants of Calais who offered themselves as hostages to Edward III after he besieged the city for almost a year in 1347.

The museum’s several rooms house many more of the artist’s works, including The Kiss (1886), Eternal Springtime, which Rodin had presented to Robert Louis Stevenson in 1885, The Age of Bronze (1875–76), and The Burghers of Calais, a monument commissioned by the City of Calais in 1884.

NOTE:

In 2019, the Rodin Museum mounted a two-year special exhibition titled Rethinking the Modern Monument.  Curated by Alexander Kauffman, it paired 16 works from the Philadelphia Museum of Art with selected Rodin sculptures. The special exhibition featured bronze sculptures by Jean Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Jacques Lipchitz, Marino Marini, Chana Orloff, and Alberto Giacometti, among others.

 

Rodin Museum: 2151 Benjamin Franklin Parkway (at 22nd Street), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Open Wednesdays –Mondays,, 10 AM.–5 PM. Tel: (215) 763-8100.  Website:
www.rodinmuseum.org.  Coordinates: 39.962°N 75.174°W. 

How to Get There:  SEPTA bus: 7, 32, 38, 48, 49, Philly PHLASH; Suburban Station.

Independence Seaport Museum – USS Olympia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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USS Olympia

After exploring the USS Becuna, Jandy and I now went out and boarded the USS Olympia (C-6/CA-15/CL-15/IX-40), a protected cruiser famous, during the Spanish–American War, as the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the May 1, 1898 Battle of Manila Bay.  There was a semi-permanent exhibit opened last June 16, 2017, featuring the Olympia, entitled “World War I USS Olympia.” to commemorate the World War I centennial. The World War I USS Olympia exhibit highlights the Ship’s humanitarian and peace-keeping role in World War I Europe. The exhibit also explores the everyday life of sailors aboard the ship, as well as, the Olympia’s final mission of transporting the remains of the Unknown Soldier from France to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.

The author at the upper deck

Turret of two 8 in. (203 mm.) 35 cal. Mark 4 guns

The design of the interior of the USS Olympia was not that far off from the old sailing ships of the line, with an enormous amount of deeply polished wood at the sumptuous officer’s quarters (called the “Officers’ Country).  The beautifully paneled staterooms of the officers contrasts with the tiny hammocks of the enlisted men.

Beautifully paneled Officers Berth Deck (Officer’s Country)

Hammocks of the enlisted men

Before the USS Olympia retired in 1922, most of its original guns were removed in refits but, amazingly, one of the original guns survives today, a 6-pounder forward on the port side.The captain’s cabin also mounted a gun. 

Stateroom and cabin of Commodore George Dewey. At left can be seen the muzzle of a 5-inch gun

The Commodore’s bathroom

Voice pipes lead from the bridge to various stations, including the emergency steering – a triple-wheel made of wood, out on deck towards the stern.

Jandy manning the ship’s emergency steering

Ammunition hoists, sitting close by coal chutes and ash hoists, look like china cabinets. It’s an amazing step back into history.  All throughout, great signs describe life on the ship and its history. We weren’t able to see the engine room (to see the big old steam engines, the giant crankshaft and connecting rods and the cramped boiler room) as it’s only included in the highly recommended “Behind the Scenes” tour which the we were too late for.

Officer’s Quarters

Junior Officers’ Mess

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this ship:

  • She saw service in the United States Navy from her commissioning in 1895 until 1922.
  • She was twice decommissioned and recommissioned.
  • For several months after her commissioning, she was the largest ship ever built on the western coast of the US, until surpassed by the battleship Oregon.
  • Admiral George Dewey and Olympia became famous as the first victors of the Spanish-American War.
  • She is the sole floating survivor of the US Navy’s Spanish–American War fleet.
  • Olympiais the oldest steel US warship still afloat in the world.
  • She is the sole survivor of the U.S naval shipbuilding program from the 1880s and 1890s and the only surviving pre-dreadnaught protected cruiser in the world.
  • It is one of only four warships representative of the time period that exist worldwide.

Officers Dining Room

Here is the timeline of the ship’s history:

  • In 1889, the newly formed Board on the Design of Ships began the design process for Cruiser Number 6
  • On April 8, 1890, the navy solicited bids but found only one bidder, the Union Iron Worksin San Francisco, California.
  • On July 10, 1890, the contract was signed
  • On June 17, 1891, the ship’s keel was laid
  • On November 5, 1892, the ship was launched.
  • On November 3, 1893, Union Iron Works conducted the first round of trials.
  • On December 1893, she was dispatched from San Francisco to Santa Barbara
  • On December 15, 1893, Olympia sailed into the Santa Barbara Channel and began an official four-hour speed trial time.
  • On February 5, 1895, the new cruiser was ultimately commissioned.
  • Upon commissioning, Olympia departed the Union Iron Works yard in San Francisco and steamed inland to the U.S. Navy’s Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, where outfitting was completed and Captain John J. Read was placed in command.
  • In April 1895, the ship steamed south, to Santa Barbara, to participate in a festival. That same month, the ship’s crew also conducted landing drills in Sausalito and Santa Cruz.
  • On April 20, 1895, the ship conducted its first gunnery practice, during which one of the ship’s gunners, Coxswain John Johnson, was killed in an accident with one of the 5-inch guns
  • On July 27, 1895, the ship starts its last shakedown cruise
  • On August 25, 1895, the ship departed the United States for Chinese waters.
  • A week later, the ship arrived in Hawaii, where she remained until October 23 due to an outbreak of cholera. The ship then sailed for Yokohama, Japan
  • On November 9, 1895, the ship arrives in Yokohama.
  • On November 15, 1895, the Baltimore arrives in Yokohama, from Shanghai, China, to transfer command of the Asiatic Squadron to Olympia.  She was designated as the flagship.
  • On December 18, 1895, Rear Admiral F.V. McNair arrives to take command of the squadron.
  • The following two years, the ship joined training exercises with the other members of the Asiatic Squadron as well as goodwill visits to various ports in Asia, notably Hongkong and Kobe and Nagasaki in Japan.
  • On January 3, 1898, Commodore George Dewey raised his flag on Olympia and assumed command of the squadron.
  • On April 25, 1898, the Spanish-American War began and Dewey moved his ships to Mirs Bay, China.
  • On April 27, 1898, the Navy Department ordered the Squadron to Manila in the Philippines, where a significant Spanish naval force protected the harbor. Dewey was ordered to sink or capture the Spanish warships, opening the way for a subsequent conquest by US forces.
  • On the morning of May 1, 1898, Commodore Dewey, with his flag aboard Olympia, steamed his ships into Manila Bay to confront the Spanish flotilla commanded by Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón.  At approximately 05:40, Dewey instructed Olympia‘s captain, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.” Newly assigned Capt. Charles Vernon Gridley ordered the forward 8-inch gun turret, commanded by Gunners Mate Adolph Nilsson, to open fire, which opened the battle and prompted the other American warships to begin firing. By early afternoon, Dewey had completed the destruction of Montojo’s squadron and the shore batteries, while his own ships were largely undamaged. Dewey anchored his ships off Manila and accepted the surrender of the city. Olympia remained in the area and supported the American expeditionary force by shelling Spanish forces on land.
  • On May 20, 1898, the ship returned to the Chinese coast, remaining there until the following month, when she departed for the US, via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
  • On October 10, 1898, the ship arrived in Boston. Following Olympia‘s return to the US, her officers and crew were feted and she was herself repainted and adorned with a gilded bow ornament.
  • On November 9, 1898, Olympia was decommissioned and placed in reserve.
  • On January 2, 1902, the Olympia was recommissioned into the fleet and assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron. Her first duty was to serve as the flagship of the Caribbean Division.
  • Over the following four years, the ship patrolled the Atlantic and Mediterranean, her voyages including a visit to Turkey.
  • In March through April 1903, she and four other U.S. Navy warships were involved in an intervention in Honduras.
  • Starting on April 2, 1906, she became a training ship for midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy. In this role, she conducted three summer training cruises – May 15 – August 26, 1907, June 1 – September 1, 1908 and May 14 – August 28, 1909. Between the cruises, the ship was placed in reserve, first in Norfolk, Virginia and later at Annapolis, Maryland.
  • On March 6, 1912, Olympia arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, serving as a barracks ship until 1916.
  • In late 1916, when it became increasingly clear that the US would eventually enter World War I, the ship was recommissioned into the fleet.
  • After the U.S. entered the First World War by declaring war on Germany in April 1917, Olympia was mobilized as the flagship of the U.S. Patrol Force. She was tasked with patrolling the eastern seaboard of the US for German warships. She also escorted transport ships in the North Atlantic.
  • On June 15, 1917, she ran aground in Long Island Sound, and put in for repairs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which, along with the replacement of her 8-inch and 5″/40-caliber guns with 5″/51-caliber guns, took eight months.
  • On April 28, 1918, Olympiadeparted Charleston, carrying an expeditionary force bound for Russia which had previously been a member of the Allied Powers but was in the midst of civil war and had signed a separate peace with Germany.
  • On June 9, 1918, Olympia arrived in Murmansk, Russia, and deployed the peace-keeping force. She subsequently assisted in the occupation of Archangel.
  • After World War I, participated in the 1919 Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and conducted cruises in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas to promote peace in the unstable Balkan countries.
  • After the end of the war, Olympia sailed to the Mediterranean via Portsmouth, England.
  • On December 1918, the ship became the flagship for American naval forces stationed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. While on this assignment, she continued in her old role of showing the flag and conducting goodwill visits in various Mediterranean ports. This included a period of policing duty in the Adriatic Sea from January 21 to October 25, 1919 (the Dalmatian coast was in a state of turmoil following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the war).
  • On August 18, 1918, she steamed to the Black Sea to aid the return of refugees from the Balkans who had fled during the war.
  • By September 19, 1918, she was back in the Adriatic and four days later had to deploy a landing party to prevent an incident between Italian and Yugoslav forces.
  • On November 24, 1919, Olympia briefly returned to Charleston.
  • In 1920, she was reclassified as CA-15.
  • On February 14, 1920, she departed New York for another tour of duty in the Adriatic,
  • On May 25, 1921, the ship returned to Charleston.
  • On June 1921, she was made the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet’s training unit.
  • In July, 1921, she then participated in joint Army-Navy experiments, during which the ex-German warships Ostfriesland and Frankfurt were sunk off the Virginia Capes. She was again reclassified as CL-15 that year.
  • On October 3, 1921, Olympia departed Philadelphia for Le Havre, France, to bring the remains of the Unknown Soldier home for interment in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C..
  • On October 25, 1921, the cruiser departed France, escorted by a group of French destroyers for part of the voyage.
  • On November 9, 1921, at the mouth of the Potomac River, the battleship North Dakotaand the destroyer Bernadou joined Olympia as she sailed to the Washington Navy Yard. After transferring the remains ashore, the cruiser fired her guns in salute.
  • In the summer of 1922, she conducted a last training cruise for midshipmen.
  • On December 9, 1922, she was decommissioned for the last time in Philadelphia and placed in reserve.
  • On June 30, 1931, the ship was reclassified IX-40 to be preserved as a relic.
  • On September 11, 1957, she was released to the Cruiser Olympia Association, restored to her 1898 configuration and became a museum ship under their auspices. The main 8-inch guns and turrets, scrapped before World War I, were replaced with sheet metal fabrications.
  • In 1966, Olympia was designated a National Historic Landmark.
  • In January 1996, when faced with mounting debt and tremendous deferred maintenance, the Cruiser Olympia Society merged with the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. 

Battle Memorial

Today, Olympia is a museum ship at the Independence Seaport Museum in Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia. Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Midshipmen from Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania regularly work on Olympia, functioning as maintenance crew. Olympia’s stern plate and bow ornaments are on display at Dahlgren Hall at the United States Naval Academy.

National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark plaque

National Historic Maritime Landmark plaque

Here are some specifications of this ship:

5 inch gun

Driggs-Schroeder 6-pounder gun

Independence Seaport Museum: 211 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, U.S.A.  Tel: +1 215-413-8655. Website: www.phillyseaport.org.  Open daily, 10 AM – 5 PM. Closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day but open on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day (January 15) and President’s Day (February 19). Admission: US$16 (adults), US$12 (seniors, 65 & over), US$12 (children, 3–12 years old), free for college students, military (active & retired) and children 2 years old & under. Seafarin’ Saturday and Citizen Science Lab programming are included with regular admission. Group visits are available at reduced rates for a minimum of ten people. Reservations must be made in advance. Visitors can also walk aboard, tour, and watch historical reenactments conducted by the Cruiser Olympia Living History Crew.

Independence Seaport Museum (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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Independence Seaport Museum

The Independence Seaport Museum, formerly the Philadelphia Maritime Museum, is located in the Penn’s Landing complex along the Delaware River.  Founded in 1961 by maritime collector J. Welles Henderson, the collections at the Independence Seaport Museum document maritime history and culture along the Delaware River. Along the waterfront of the museum are two National Historic Landmark ships – the cruiser USS Olympia (C-6), a Spanish-American warship that played a vital role in the Battle of Manila Bay, and the World War II and Cold War era submarine USS Becuna.

Check out “Independence Seaport Museum – USS Olympia” and “Independence Seaport Museum – USS Becuna“

Cruiser USS Olympia and submarine USS Becuna

The J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library, at the second floor of the museum, has a collection that focuses on maritime history and culture along the Delaware River and in the Port of Philadelphia, from early America to the present. The Archive includes personal and business records, rare books, reference materials, mechanical drawings, ship models, maps, art, architectural drawings, charts, recordings, photographs, cultural artifacts, and ephemera.

Petroleum Barge

Notable items in the collection include the John Barry-Hayes collection, Reed & Ford business papers, Captain John Greene Collection, the Philadelphia Maritime Exchange records, and the collection of 16th–18th century geographical maps and charts. The Archive also maintains the cruiser Olympia and submarine Becuna collections. In August 2016 the Archive launched its first online catalog, which lists inventories of its archival collections.

Workshop on the Water

The museum’s current exhibits are:

  • The unique Patriots & Pirates, a exhibition developed by Chief Curator Craig Bruns and opened in April 2016, focuses on Philadelphia and the founding of the United States Navy.  The permanent exhibition, highlighting the little-told story of America’s conflict with pirates features curated objects never, or rarely, seen by the public. It features a full-size, a stationary 102-ft. waterline model of the schooner Diligence of 1797 at the center.  A vessel with masts soaring above a 62-ft. deck, it was constructed by staff and volunteers from Workshop on the Water, a traditional boat shop located inside the museum.  Some notable artifacts in the exhibit include a rare letter written by American citizens held hostage in Algiers to the American Congress requesting for their return home (December 29, 1793), tools from the excavation of I-95 at Old City (Philadelphia) in 1974, Captain John Barry‘s octant, a painting of Philadelphia merchant ship Pigou being pursued by the French privateer L’Adventure and a model of the Federal St. Navy Yard, recreating Joshua Humphreys‘ shipyard in the 1790s where he built the frigate United States.

Schooner Diligence

  • Tides of Freedom: African Presence on the Delaware River, an exhibit curated by Tukufu Zuberi, (University of Pennsylvania professor of Sociology and Africana Studies) and opened in May 2013, explores African-American history along the Delaware River and focuses on the slave trade, emancipation and the abolitionist movement in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia’s connection to the underground railroad. The exhibit continues into the modern era, focusing on Jim Crow and Civil Rights in Philadelphia. On display at the exhibit are recently uncovered artifacts from the museum’s collection – slave shackles and an 18th-century account book that documents the sale of slaves in Philadelphia. Gripping first-person accounts and interactive elements provide visitors with opportunities for discovery and communication. Using four key moments in Philadelphia’s history, representing the themes of Enslavement, Emancipation, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights, urges visitors both to bear witness to a story central to Philadelphia and American history, and to think about the meaning of “freedom” both historically and in today’s world.

Tides of Freedom

  • Rescues on the River tells the story of maritime disasters along the Delaware River, exploring how tragedy shaped modern maritime safety regulations and led to the formation of the Coast Guard. The exhibit begins with a late 18th-century Revolutionary War-era explosion of a British ship and ends with the 1975 oil tanker collision and resulting fire. Explore the disasters that unfolded as the Delaware developed into a watery highway for trade and commerce while experiencing the misfortunes, the miracles and the lessons learned.  It will also introduce historical prints and newspaper headlines that were used to broadcast and memorize these terrible marine catastrophes. Visitors to the exhibition can also take home a free 20-page tabloid keepsake, produced in partnership with the Philadelphia Weekly, which includes illustrations and more details about some of the events featured in the exhibition.

The Guppy, a two-person submersible

  • Bound for Philadelphia, signaled by boat horns and whistles, makes visitors chart a course for Penn’s Landing. Learn the hazards of navigation as you travel beneath a three-story replica of the Ben Franklin Bridge and make your way along a carpeted Delaware River. View the charts and navigational instruments that helped guide early Delaware River travelers.
  • The Navigation Exhibit, spotlighting navigation science, documents the critical role of navigation technology to maritime history. On display are collection of navigational tools from the early American colonial period to the present – sextants, compasses, maps, etc.. See how these objects made it easier to traverse the often difficult Delaware River.

Joshua Humphreys’ 18th century shipyard

Other past exhibits include:

  • Titanic Philadelphiansopened in 2012, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The exhibit focused on the approximately 40 Philadelphian passengers of the Titanic, their first-hand accounts, and how their lives were forever altered by the tragedy. On display is a rare first class passenger list which was salvaged by Marian Longstreth Thayer who unknowingly had the list in her pocket as she boarded a lifeboat and whose husband died in the disaster.
  • Coming to America spotlighted the experiences of immigrants who left their homeland for the United States and passed through Philadelphia’s Washington Avenue Immigration Station. On display are artifacts and oral histories of both wealthy first-class passengers and economically disadvantaged passengers traveling in steerage.
  • Philadelphia and the China Trade chronicles the history of trade between the two nations (in the 18th century Philadelphia became one of the first American cities to begin trading with China) and explores the lasting impact it had on Philadelphia’s culture and economy.

The bark James A. Wright

Independence Seaport Museum: 211 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, U.S.A.  Tel: +1 215-413-8655. Website: www.phillyseaport.org.  Open daily, 10 AM – 5 PM. Closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day but open on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day (January 15) and President’s Day (February 19). Admission: US$16 (adults), US$12 (seniors, 65 & over), US$12 (children, 3–12 years old), free for college students, military (active & retired) and children 2 years old & under. Seafarin’ Saturday and Citizen Science Lab programming are included with regular admission. Group visits are available at reduced rates for a minimum of ten people. Reservations must be made in advance.

Philadelphia Museum of Art (Pennsylvania, USA)

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Philadelphia Museum of Art

This art museum, originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, has impressive collections containing over 240,000 objects in over 200 galleries spanning 2,000 years. It includes major holdings of European, American and Asian origin, showing the creative achievements of the Western world since the first century BC and those of Asia since the third millennium AD.

The various classes of artwork include sculpture; paintings; prints; drawings; photographs;, arms and armor; and decorative arts.

The author

Standouts include a great Rogier van der Weyden altarpiece, the large The Bathers by Paul Cezanne, a room devoted to Philadelphia’s own realist painter Thomas Eakins, and the notorious mixed-media Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors (most often called The Large Glass), exactly as the Dada master Marcel Duchamp installed it.

Prometheus Strangling the Vulture (Bronze, Jacques Lipchitz, cast 1952-53)

Upstairs are over 80 period rooms, from a Medieval cloister to an Indian temple.  In recent years, the museum has helped to organize shows,  from Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas to Constantin Brancusi and Barnett Newman.

Jandy in front of a choir screen from the chapel of the chateau of Pagny

The main museum building, on Fairmount, a rocky hill topped by the city’s main reservoir located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway (formerly Fairmount Parkway) at Eakins Oval, was completed in 1928.

Entrance Lobby

The museum administers several annexes including the Rodin Museum, also located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building (opened in 2007), which is located across the street just north of the main building.

Check out “Rodin Museum” and “Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building“

Botanist Take a Core Sample of a 350 year old Redwood Tree, Redwood National Park, California (2008)

Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (2008)

The main museum building and its annexes, owned by the City of Philadelphia, are administered by a registered nonprofit corporation.

Allegory of the Schuykill River – Water Nymph and Bittern (William Rush)

La Premiere Pose (Howard Roberts)

The Philadelphia Museum of Art also administers the historic colonial-era houses of Mount Pleasant and Cedar Grove, both located in Fairmount Park.

Dying Centaur (Bronze, William Rimmer, 1967)

Mother and Child II (Bronze, Jacques Lipchitz, 1941)

Every year, several special exhibitions are held in the museum including touring exhibitions arranged with other museums in the United States and abroad.

The Birth of Venus (Nicolas Poussin)

Head of a Woman and Flowers (Oil on canvas, Gustave Courbet, 1871)

The final design of the main building, in the form of three linked Greek temples, is mostly credited to two architects in the architectural firms of Horace Trumbauer and Zantzinger, Borie and Medary – Howell Lewis Shay for the building’s plan and massing, and chief designer Julian Abele for the detail work and perspective drawings.

Virgin and Child in a Landscape (Oil on panel, 1500)

Still Life with a Tortoise (Oil on canvas, possibly by Thomas Black, 1743)

Abele, the first African-American student to graduate (in 1902) from the University of Pennsylvania‘s Department of Architecture (now known as Penn’s School of Design) adapted Classical Greek temple columns for the design of the museum entrances, and was responsible for the colors of both the building stone and the figures added to one of the pediments.

Western Civilization (1933, Paul Jennewein, colored by Leon V. Solon)

In 1919, construction of the main building began when Mayor Thomas B. Smith laid the cornerstone in a Masonic ceremony. The building was constructed with dolomite quarried in Minnesota. Because of shortages caused by World War I and other delays, the new building was not completed until 1928.

Interior.  At the top of the stairs is a statue of Diana (Gilded copper sheets, Augustus Saint Gaudens, 1892-93)

To help assure the continued funding for the completion of the design, the wings were intentionally built first and, once the building’s exterior was completed, 20 second-floor galleries containing English and American art opened to the public on March 26, 1928, though a large amount of interior work was incomplete. The building is also adorned by a collection of bronze griffins, which were adopted as the symbol of the museum in the 1970s.

Apollo (Terra cotta model cast in bronze after 1715, Francois Girardon)

Statue of Summer as Ceres (Jacques-Augustin Pajou)

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this museum:

  • In 2016, 775,043 people visited the museum, ranking it among the top one hundred most-visited art museums in the world.
  • Based on gallery space, the museum is also one of the largest art museums in the world.
  • It is the third-largest art museum in the country.
  • The building’s eight pediments were intended to be adorned with sculpture groups but one, “Western Civilization” (1933) by  Paul Jennewein, and colored by Leon V. Solon, has been completed. This sculpture group, awarded the Medal of Honor of the Architectural League of New York, features polychrome sculptures of painted terra-cotta figures, depicting Greek deities and mythological figures.
  • Due to a partnership, enacted early in the museum’s history, between the museum and the University of Pennsylvania,  the museum does not have any galleries devoted to Egyptian, Roman, or Pre-Columbian art. The university loaned the museum its collection of Chinese porcelain, and the museum loaned a majority of its Roman, Pre-Columbian, and Egyptian pieces to the university. However, the museum still retains a few important pieces for special exhibitions.
  • In recent decades, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has become known due to the role it played in the Rocky films—Rocky (1976) and five of its six sequels, II, III, V, Rocky Balboa and Creed. Rocky Balboa‘s (portrayed by Sylvester Stallone) famous run up the 72 steps of the east entrance stairs (informally nicknamed the Rocky Steps) is often mimicked by  visitors to the museum.  The museum’s stairs has been named by Screen Junkies as the second most famous movie location behind only Grand Central Station in New York.
  • For the filming of Rocky III, a 2.6 m. (8.5 ft.) tall bronze statue of the Rocky Balboa character, created in 1980, was placed at the top of the museum’s front stairs in 1982 (and again for the film Rocky V). After filming was complete, Stallone donated the statue to the city of Philadelphia. In 2006, the statue was relocated, from the now-defunct Spectrum sports arena, to a new display area on the north side of the base of the stairs.

Jandy and the author in front of the bronze statue of the Rock Balboa character

Here’s a historical timeline of the museum’s collections:

  • Its permanent collection began with objects from the 1876 Centennial Exposition (America’s first World’s Fair) and gifts from the public impressed with the exhibition’s ideals of good design and craftsmanship.
  • After the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art was opened on May 10, 1877, European and Japanese fine and decorative art objects and books for the museum’s library were among the first donations.
  • Starting in 1882, Clara Jessup Moore donated a remarkable collection of antique furniture, enamels, carved ivory, jewelry, metalwork, glass, ceramics, books, textiles and paintings.
  • In 1893 Anna H. Wilstach bequeathed a large painting collection, including many American paintings, and an endowment of US$500 million for additional purchases.
  • Within a few years, works by James Abbott McNeill Whistler and George Inness were purchased
  • In 1894, the Countess de Brazza’s lace collection was acquired, forming the nucleus of the lace collection.
  • In 1899,Henry Ossawa Tanner‘s The Annunciation was bought.
  • In 1942, E. Gallatin accepted an offer from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to provide a home for his collection. Within a few months 175 works from his collection were moved to Philadelphia.
  • In 1945, the estate of George Grey Barnard sold his second collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
  • On December 27, 1950, after protracted discussions and many visits from Director Fiske Kimball and his wife Marie, Louise and Walter Arensberg presented their collection of over 1000 objects to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
  • Shortly after her 1956 wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco, Philadelphian Grace Kelly donated her wedding dress to the museum.
  • Extensive renovation of the building lasted from the 1960s through 1976. Major acquisitions included the Carroll S. Tyson, Jr. and Samuel S. White III and Vera White collections, 71 objects from designer Elsa Schiaparelli, and Marcel Duchamp‘s Étant donnés.
  • In 1980, the museum acquired After the Bath by Edgar Degas.
  • In 1986, the art collection of John D. McIlhenny was bequeathed to museum. It includes masterpieces such as Ingres’s ”Comtesse de Tournon,” Delacroix’s 1844 version of ”The Death of Sardanapalus,” Degas’s ”Interior” of 1888-89,” Mary Cassatt at the Louvre” and ”Woman Drying Herself,” Cezanne’s portrait of his wife, van Gogh’s ”Rain,” Seurat’s ”Trombone Player: Study for ‘La Parade,” Toulouse-Lautrec’s ”At the Moulin Rouge” and Matisse’s ”Still Life on Table – The Pineapple” (1925)
  • In 1989, the museum acquired Fifty Days at Iliam by Cy Twombly.

Death of Sardanapalus (Oil on canvas, Eugene Delacroix, 1844)

Making a Train (Oil on canvas, Seymour Joseph Guy, 1867)

The Asian collection is highlighted by paintings and sculpture from China, Japan and India; furniture and decorative arts (including major collections of Chinese, Japanese and Korean ceramics); a large and distinguished group of Persian and Turkish carpets; and rare and authentic architectural assemblages such as a Chinese palace hall, a Japanese teahouse, and a 16th-century Indian temple hall.

The Bride of Lammermoor (Oil on panel, Sir Edwin Landseer, 1830)

Basket of Fruit (Oil on canvas, Edouard Manet, 1864)

Dating from the medieval era to the present, the European collection encompasses Italian and Flemish early-Renaissance masterworks; strong representations of later European paintings (including French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism); sculpture (with a special concentration in the works of Auguste Rodin); decorative arts; tapestries; furniture; and period rooms and architectural settings ranging from the facade of a medieval church in Burgundy to a superbly decorated English drawing room by Robert Adam.

Arms and Armor.  At center is the Portrait of a Nobleman with Duelling Gauntlet (1562)

The comprehensive arms and armor collection, the second-largest collection in the United States, was acquired from celebrated collector Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch in 1976, the Bicentennial Anniversary of the American Revolution.  Spanning several centuries, it includes European and Southwest Asian arms and armor.

Check out “Von Kienbusch Galleries of Arms and Armor“

The Angel of Purity – Maria Mitchell Memorial (Marble, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1902)

Diana (marble, 1826, Joseph Gott)

The American collection, among the finest in the United States, surveys more than three centuries of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts, with outstanding strengths in 18th- and 19th-century Philadelphia furniture and silver, Pennsylvania German art, rural Pennsylvania furniture and ceramics, and the paintings of Thomas Eakins (the museum houses the most important Eakins collection in the world).

Sketches of Thomas Eakins

Portrait of Hayes Agnew – Agnew Clinic (Oil on canvas, Thomas Eakins, 1889)

Modern artwork includes works by American Modernists as well as those of Pablo Picasso, Jean Metzinger, Antonio Rotta, Albert Gleizes, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dalí and Constantin Brâncuși. The expanding collection of contemporary art includes major works by Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, and Sol LeWitt, among many others.

The Seesaw (Oil on canvas, Francisco Goya, 1791-92)

Venus and Adonis (Oil on canvas, Charles-Joseph Natoire, 1740)

The museum also houses an encyclopedic holding of costume and textiles, as well as prints, drawings, and photographs. For reasons of preservation, they are displayed in rotation.

Equestrian statue of George Washington on Eakins Oval

In the square in front of the museum is an equestrian statue of George Washington erected by the German sculptor Rudolf Siemering.

The Lion Fighter (1858, Carl Conrad Albert Wolff)

The grandiose flight of steps behind him are flanked on the left The Lion Fighter, by Carl Conrad Albert Wolff, and on the right is The Amazon Attacked by a Panther by August Kiss, both casts from the Rauch School.

Mounted Amazon Attacked by a Panther (August Kiss, 1839, cast 1929)

The one-acre, terraced Anne d’Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden, dedicated to the museum’s late director Anne d’Harnoncourt (1943–2008) and designed by OLIN landscape architects working with Atkin Olshin Schade Architects, extends the Museum’s vast galleries to the outdoors while strengthening its connections to the city of Philadelphia and Fairmount Park.

Social Consciousness (Jacob Epstein)

The garden is divided into five sections: the Upper Terrace, the Lower Terrace, two graveled galleries and a paved plaza. Works here include the iconic Giant Three-Way Plug (Cube Tap) of Claes Oldenburg which was presented to the museum by Geraldine and David N. Pincus; Flukes, the large-scale sculpture of a whale’s tail by Gordon Gund; Steps (Philadelphia) and Pyramid (Philadelphia), two concrete block sculptures by Sol LeWitt; a granite bench and table as well as a marble chair by Scott Burton; Steel Woman II by Thomas Schütte; and Curve I, a remarkable work, from 1973, made of weathering steel by Ellsworth Kelly.

Giant 3-Way Plug – Cube Tap (Claes Oldenburg)

Philadelphia Museum of Art: 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130, USA. Tel: (215) 763-8100 Website: www.philamuseum.org. Open Tuesdays- Sundays, 10 AM – 5 PM. Admission: US$20/adult, children below 12 years old is free.