One of the things I love to do at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, after a few hours of exploring has caused a case of museum-fatigue, is to find a comfortable chair near the upstairs rotunda and spend a quiet while reading whatever issue of The New Yorker I have stashed in my purse, the John Singer Sargent murals overhead providing ample canopy for the most expansive and inspired of thoughts.
Hoarded Ordinaries 
Jan 7, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Why does the word “rotunda” make me want to snicker? Juvenile, I’m sure. Glad you had a nice time. It’s been awhile since I’ve been the MFA or any museum. Now that the holidays are behind, I’ll have to plan a visit.
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Jan 7, 2010 at 7:37 pm
I wonder which architectural term is more giggle-worthy: “rotunda” or “apse”?
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Jan 7, 2010 at 10:19 pm
“Flying buttress” always made me giggle a bit, too.
Hey, I missed your birthday. Hope you had a cheerful one.
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Jan 8, 2010 at 10:56 am
I know exactly what you mean. I was always in such a rush to see everything going to museums by myself as an eager student, but it wasn’t until I took young children with me that the greatness of those leather chairs really spoke to me. I sat with a sleeping child for two hours underneath Hercules fighting the hydra (which looks like the backglass on a pinball machine) and it was one of my favorite museum experiences. Those seats are one of the great places in Boston, (esp. way at the end where you’re not near any entrances) and if I lived a little closer I’d be a member so that I could go hang out there. Love your MFA blogs!
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Jan 8, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Yes, MuMun. Flying buttresses always make me picture someone literally flying by the seat of their pants!
Bill, this is exactly why I love being an MFA member: I no longer have that desperate feeling that I have to “see everything” in order to “get my money’s worth” whenever I go. If “all” I do is check out one exhibit and then sit for a while, that’s enough.
It’s very much how I frequented the Museum when I was a grad student at Northeastern and got in for free.
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Jan 11, 2010 at 12:04 am
I like museums with spaces I can return to and feel are mine. Usually it’s close to some room off the beaten track that I’ve found some special affinity to. Corduroy upholstery helps. Spaces like that make me keep returning to them, I think, more than the art. The Phillips is so nice here (D.C.). I haven’t been there in so long.
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Jan 12, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Dear Lorianne,
Your words are wonderful and your pictures are too! I feel like going to a museum now..and I have not been in a long time. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! I started to read your blog 4 years ago and you weren’t even out of your 30’s yet…I liked the 40’s very much…and the 50’s don’t seem so bad either. I received a Cd for Christmas called…COMFORTABLE WITH UNCERTAINTY…and I thought of you. It’s really good!
Until later,
Leslie
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