Instead of a journey to the east side of Stockholm to tour the open-air museum called Skansen, the Sunday morning rain caused us to take a detour and head to Stockholm’s National Museum instead. The museum is on our Stockholm bucket list.
The National Museum is a quintessential temple built for the arts. Constructed in 1886 right across the river from the Royal Palace, the high ceilings and long central staircase capture the northern Italian Renaissance style intended by its German architect. A small auditorium off the foyer has a continuously running 30 minute movie about the history of the museum and its acquisitions. It was well worth the time.
An opportunity to see the five month long Lust & Vice exhibit made our detour out of the rain even easier. To be honest, our cumulative 21st century exposure to nudity far exceeds depictions rendered by artists from the 16th to 19th century. Numerous paintings of the exposed breasts of alabaster skinned women lined the walls. What was most revealing, however, was how artists of their day balanced religious sensibilities with the display of erotic imagery.
Claiming that images of naked women were central to depicting mythological or biblical stories was a rationale frequently used. Martin van Meytens’ double-sided Kneeling Nun painting (~1731) highlighted an additional cleverness in “hiding” taboo imagery and deflecting personal involvement when viewing overtly erotic imagery.
On one side of van Meytens’ painting is the image of a pious nun, hands folded, kneeling, leaning on a railing. On the other side is the bare backside of this same nun. To remove the viewer from the “guilt” of enjoying the earthly pleasure of seeing the nun’s naked bottom, the artist included one additional image. In the top right corner is a lascivious old man who is the voyeur, instead of the viewer of the painting. The lecher then absorbs the guilt; the viewer is free to admire the artist’s brush strokes. 
In another section of the museum we viewed the Four Seasons exhibit showing artists’ seasonal imagery of Sweden. The permanent displays include portrait miniatures, statues and the shimmering display of silver work in the Swedish industrial art design.
A visit to the user friendly National Museum is recommended. Free coat racks are available as well as lockers for storage of backpacks or small bags. The lockers require a 1 SEK coin which is returned once the locker is re-opened. We did not have a coin, but were offered the use of a coin by a gift shop cashier.
After five hours at the museum that included a wonderful lunch, we emerged to less threatening skies and meandered back to our apartment with many wonderful memories. One less item on our Stockholm bucket list.
Slide show of our Museum Visit
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