Tuesday morning we traveled to The National Gallery. While we were there we focused specifically on four paintings.

Self Portrait in a Straw Hat by Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun

Marriage A-la-Mode by William Hogarth

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche

The Fighting Temeraire by J. M. W. Turner

My favorite of the four paintings is The Fighting Temeraire by J. M. W. Turner. The painting shows the Tameraine (large ship to the left) being pulled up the river to scrap the wood for furniture. The Temeraire played a distinct role in the Battle of Trafalgar. Overall the painting represented industrialization and social change. The ship pulling the Tameraine is more modern than the Tameraine the new ship is bringing in the change. Also in the painting the sun is setting representing the end of the era. Dr. Clinton also mentioned the change is like many college students lives, constantly changing. This painting resonated with me because the world is constantly changing and I specifically have noticed change in my own life within the last year.

After The National Gallery we walked to Westminster Abby to meet up with Dr. Anne Richards who is a theologist for the Church of England. She discussed The Church of England in the 21st and the problem the church is facing. Since the Church of Enlgand is a State Church there are many social problems of not having a separate church and state like the US. Church attendance is also rapidly declining due to the more individualistic ways of the younger generation. The next topic was education in England. Like the US education has changed over time changing from more of an elite privilege to a more modern view of even college graduates can struggle with finding jobs. Not having a separate church and state also causes many social controversy between religious groups and how the school should be run.

After the lecture we traveled over to the London Eye and the Southbank district for dinner. After dinner we hopped onto the Lodon Eye. It was really awesome to see the city in such a unique way and since was had spent the last three days exploring it was pretty easy to point where we had been.