More Impressions from Washington

Griffin: I looked over my shoulder and there it was: the supreme art by so many artists, with the vivid colors popping out at you.

I don’t pay attention to the detail of the objects or animals in the picture, but actually the detail of the color of the art. It was outstanding that they used gold so much, even mixing it with the other colors, to represent heaven.

I loved the use of brown as well. One of my classmates said that the brown wasn’t as vivid and did not strike out as much. I disagree, because brown can bring the best colors in a picture to life.

It almost felt that I was in the picture watching myself in astonishment, seeing myself darting my eyes to everything I saw in the beautiful painted picture.

Lillian: The walls of the Cathedral were so grand, and the ceilings made it look like I was inside a whale’s stomach. At first I felt small and weirdly claustrophobic. Then I saw one of the stained glass windows. It looked like someone had taken a rainbow and spun it into a story for all to see.

I no longer felt trapped and insignificant. I felt privileged to see such a mundane thing like a window be turned into a magically artistic illustration of a story. We proceeded with the tour, but I kept looking at all of the windows.

 

Henry: I liked the fact that NASA gave the moon rock to the cathedral. Not that many people can say that they have actually seen part of the moon in close up.

Lellie: Once you walked through the gleaming doors, your eyes also shot up to the ceiling! The room was filling with spots of amazing color coming from the stained glass windows. So beautiful and extravagant! 312 windows in total -- that is a lot of glass.

Elle: When we first walked into the Cathedral I was awestruck, it was almost too much to take in at once. I wish I had a camera to capture Martha’s expression.

The stained glass windows were beautiful, and my favorite was probably the space window. Everything in the cathedral was so perfect and detailed...

Then, when we went under the cathedral I almost felt like I was under a castle. There were a series of passages and rooms, it was kind of like a maze.

Martha: I thought the National Cathedral was spectacular. I don’t think I’ve ever been inside something that big before, and it made me feel really small, but not necessarily in a bad way. It just made me realize that we are't that important in the grand scheme of things. 

Each little detail our tour guide told us fascinated me, from the piece of the moon rock to the 10,647 pipes in the altar area. The light from the stained-glass windows tainted the open floors with dollops of color. It’s intriguing that people of all religions can pray there. It see

ms like it’s not made to impress anyone, just to let you have a more spiritual relationship with whatever (or whoever) you worship.

Nicholas F.: I loved the art from the Middle Ages. The paintings remind me of icons in an Orthodox church.