Washington, DC; and Baltimore, October 2009

They may only be forty miles apart, but Washington and Baltimore are superficially very different cities. However, Baltimore has seen many efforts at restoration and regeneration over the last few years, and away from the grand memorials and slightly dull city, Washington is a place with problems, partly to do with the fact that it is sui generis and has no local government formally to represent its inhabitants. This is the place where the revolutionaries’ complaint about British ‘taxation without representation’ is easily recycled in the current day.

In the National Gallery of Art, two woman peer at The Beffi Triptych, which is from the National Museum of Abruzzo in L’Aquila, and was lent to the National Gallery of Art by the Italian government in gratitude to the U.S. for its assistance following the earthquake in L’Aquila earlier in the year. The National Museum of Abruzzo was so damaged by the earthquake that the building was condemned.
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The Beffi Triptych, lent to the National Gallery of Art following the destruction of the National Gallery of Abruzzo in L’Aquila as a result of the earthquake.
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The National Gallery of Art: looking towards ‘The White Girl (Symphony in White, No. 1)’ (1862) by James McNeill Whistler (1864–1903).
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A garden courtyard in the National Gallery of Art.
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On guard at the National Gallery of Art.
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Empty galleries at the National Gallery of Art.
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‘Daniel in the Lions’ Den’ (c. 1614/16), by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) in the National Gallery of Art.
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‘The Repentant Magdalene’ (1640), by Georges de la Tour (1593–1652).
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Walking in the rain outside the National Gallery of Art. You can see the National Capitol building in the distance.
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The National World War II Memorial is surrounded by the names of the fifty states (including the two which only became states in 1959), as well as those of the District of Columbia and various dependent U.S. territories.
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War veterans at the National World War II Memorial.
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Looking past the National World War II Memorial towards the Washington Monument.
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The Lincoln Memorial.
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The presidential memorials have an artificially imposed aura of the cathedral about them.
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The sun breaks on the Capitol building and the Washington Monument.
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Tourists on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
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Veterans at the Korean War Memorial.
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The Korean War Memorial.
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A veteran at the Korean War Memorial.
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The Korean War Memorial.
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The Washington Monument among the autumn colours.
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Looking towards the Jefferson Memorial.
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The Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial.
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Boys on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial.
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Jefferson, in his Memorial.
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Commuters in the evening rush-hour crush in the Gallery Place/Chinatown Washington Metro station.
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Welcome to Baltimore…
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The sanctuary of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary (or ‘Baltimore cathedral’ to its friends) in Baltimore.
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The dome of Baltimore cathedral.
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Looking in to the sacristy of Baltimore cathedral.
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The back of the sanctuary in Baltimore cathedral.
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‘St Louis (Louis IX of France) burying his plague-stricken troops before Tunis, A.D. 1270’, by the Baron Charles de Steuben (1791–1856). This painting at the back of Baltimore cathedral was ‘The gift of Louis, XVIII, King of France To the Arch-diocese of Baltimore’ [sic and sic].
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Stationery and other documents from the 2006 Papal Conclave, brought back to Baltimore by the then archbishop, William Cardinal Keeler.
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Stationery and other documents from the 2006 Papal Conclave, brought back to Baltimore by the then archbishop, William Cardinal Keeler. I wonder how many cardinals worked out proper accusative forms for their candidate of choice.
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Baltimore in microcosm.
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Staff get ready for feeding time at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
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Fish in the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
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A jellyfish in the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
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A jellyfish in the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
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A jellyfish in the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
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The waterfront area of Baltimore has gone through a significant process of regeneration (not to say yuppification) in recent years.
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In spite of the gentrification of some of Baltimore’s waterfront area, some industrial concerns remain.
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