Nicholson Museum

Another rainy day off—yuck. And this one was rain, rain, rain. But I vowed not to let it get me down…it's just rain after all. And so, though still recovering from a cold, I decided to venture out. I googled museums in Sydney and discovered this little gem of a one called the Nicholson Museum on the campus of the University of Sydney. Using my iPhone, I was able to figure out the best transit to the site as everyone had complained about the awful parking around the museum.

I ended up waiting for a bus that only runs during rush hour! Ugh! 40 minutes later I called teh transit people and they explained it all to me. So I treked back to my car and drove my car to a mall, where I could park the vehicle closer to the museum and then catch just one bus into Sydney. (I am not sure but I think I might have wasted more gas this way than just driving the whole way myself!) Anyway, while at the mall I had a pizza and plotted my future course. Arrived at the museum around 2 pm.

And it was still pouring. The campus of University of Sydney (US) is very lovely. Old and stately. It reminded me of my alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. It's much smaller, of course, but it has the "essence" of Wash. U. Wonderful old trees with swooping branches (1) are all over the campus. The building in the centre (2, 3) reminds me of our quadrangle (4). The museum is in one of the old buildings off the quad. It has a decorative tower off the roof (5-6). These stained glass windows (7, 9) and the bainister gargoyle (8) give you an impression of the age of the buildings. With the rain and all, I was reminded of Edinborough, Scotland or Bath, England. My days there on that fateful vacation where I had my passport and credit cards stolen were all rainy days. Funny how the mind puts things together. Sydney is about as far from Scotland as you can imagine in terms of weather…except last rainy, dank Wednesday!

The Nicholson Museum is really tiny. About three average-sized rooms and that's it. Lots of antiquity here, in terms of ancient sculptures. But there were other things, too. Here is a picture of The Judgment of Paris by James Gleeson (1950)(10). I am not sure why (maybe the texturing in the background or the composition?) but the painting brought to mind another painting at the Washington University Gallery of Art (which I include here—11). The museum also had contemporary stuff, like this sculpture made of Legos (12). I think one of the curators must like to play with Legos, as you will soon see…

This peacock mosaic (13) is from Scicily, Italy from 300-500 AD, and this jug with a crazy bird image (14) was created around 750-600 BC. A huge Egyptian sculpture dominates the second room (15, 16), along with a sarcophagus (17). Also some Greek vases (18, 19). In the third room they have a wonderful big "minature" of the Acropolis of Athens that is around 2 meters by 2 meters in area, whch does a great job of giving you a sense of the grand scale of the ancient site (20). It is my dream to see it in person one day.

Again, in the same room as the Acropolis minature, they have a reprodiction of Pompeii made in Legos (21-22)! It is funny to see this juxtapositioning of the classic with the contemporary, pop culture. This third room also contained many wonderful ancient sculptures such as this seated goddess Demeter from 350 BC (24) and this bronze of a boy removing a thorn from his foot (23) (19th century). We also have funeral boxes (25-26). Then I went back out into the rain. On the way to the bus stop, I came across another museum on the campus that contained tons of stuffed animals. It sort of made me sick. Here are some pretty butterflies for my sister (27-28).

The next day was lovely (of course!) with a beautiful sunset with clouds that looked like the offspring of mandarins and marshmallows (29)! Finally we had a young lady from the parish come back from World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland. She brought me back a photo of my hero, Pope Francis. Mind you I have a friend in the States who claims to have actually met the man and had a photo taken with me. This dear friend promised me a 4 x 6 inch photo for my office wall here in Kellyville. I am still waiting and hoping this blog might spur her to fulfill her obligation to me! (You know of whom I speak!)

Next week I head down again to Wollongong to help out at a parish there on the coast. I should have some time to wander and explore and refresh myself.