Philadelphia Museum of Art

Today we walked 3kms each way to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There is a great collection in this museum, but it is probably most famous for the scene in the film Rocky thanks to Sylvester Stallone running up the 72 steps out the front of the museum. The steps are now known as the Rocky Steps.

I was expected to repeat the Rocky scene and run up all those steps, but was saved from inevitable failure by a lot of temporary stages, fencing and portaloos being installed for the Labor Day Weekend. Phew! Instead we posed for Rocky photos, with our feet firmly planted exactly where Rocky stood.

 

A bronze statue of Rocky was placed at the top of the steps for the filming of Rocky III. It is now based in the garden at the side of the museum.

And now for some real Art! There have been some exceedingly wealthy Philadelphians who have made generous donations to this museum. Van Gogh painted several pictures of sunflowers, including five still life paintings of sunflowers in a vase, one of which is here in Philly.

Eleanor Widener and her first husband had a collection of furniture and art works in their New York townhouse, which is now in the museum. Her husband and son died when the Titanic sank, but Eleanor and her maid survived. Her second husband was an explorer and she accompanied him on many adventurous expeditions.

There is a small bronze statue of William Penn that was a model for the 32 foot statue on City Hall. The model is only about 2 feet tall.

One of my favourite pieces is this French cabinet carved from ebony. The picture on the right show some detail.