Winter days are perfect for visiting museums. The above photo features Joseph Stella's 1926 painting, The Virgin. It is part of the modern art exhibit currently showing at Reynolda Museum on the Wake Forest campus. While this is showing in Winston-Salem, it is just the next county over from Greensboro and well worth the drive. As seen above, Stella's Virgin is heavenly in its balance and form. The composition is reminiscent of early Italian Renaissance paintings, yet the floral details (see below) look like something that might be found in a contemporary folk art paintings.
Joseph Stella came to the United States in 1896, at the age of 19 to study medicine. Ironically, on Friday, 118 years later, fourth year medical students from Wake Forest University were in the museum studying these paintings for a course entitled "Narrative Medicine" which incorporates a more socially situated aspect to the study of medicine. How wonderful that our young doctors will be so well rounded and, if they are as focused on their patients as they were on the intricate details of this artwork, we will be in good hands. Beata Virgo Maria.
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