Personal Narrative: My First Trip To The Museum Of Fine Art

Even though this was my first trip to the Museum of Fine Arts and second to any art museum, I could tell that it was a unique place. After walking through the thick, futuristic glass doors into the first exhibit, I was awestruck with the sheer amount of paintings on displays. In all directions, there were hundreds of paintings lining the walls. Even though there are so many paintings, each one was aesthetically pleasing and representative of mastery in the craft. Surprisingly, after taking a closer look at each painting, I realized beauty cannot be contingent only on superficial aesthetics. Even though all the paintings were well-thought out and executed, each one made me reflect beyond the paint strokes and colored shapes on the canvas. Rembrandt’s Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, for example, made me reflect on my childhood activities while others such as …show more content…
Even though the overall painting has an uplifting tone due to the bright coloring, her forehead wrinkles makes it seem like she has a plethora of painful experiences to share, which draws in the viewer’s attention. Even though I never met Aeltje or live in the same time period, I was able to connect with the painting. As a confused viewer, I began to reflect on my own past experience in an attempt to connect with the painting. Immediately, her wrinkles reminded me of the pain and anguish I felt when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I thought about the time when my mother underwent life-threatening surgery and disappeared from my life for a whole week. I remembered when my mother was constantly tired from her weekly chemotherapy appointments. Most importantly, I relived my mother attempting to make dinner for the family even though she was in extreme pain. Even if it was dark and depressing, the portrait forced me to live through a defining moment in my life and remember the