A Sculptured Picture

A Sculptured Picture

This past summer, I took a course in Portugal. We traveled around the country and took various tours of different times. Traveling to many different places allowed us to look at, and appreciate, various types of art. We had the opportunity to see different styles of art, but also different places where art was displayed. Churches, cathedrals, and museums; all were places that we went to admire the beautiful artwork of Portugal. Many things caught my eye, but there was sulpture that stood out the most to me.

While touring through the outdoors of the Museu Soares dos Reis e Serralves, we came across a large sculptured tunnel of stone. Inside the tunnel was a long pool of water from one end to the other. While looking at this sculpture, I questioned what its importance was. How could something so simple be of so much importance to be put into such a prestigious museum? When our tour guide overheard my questioning, he explained to me the significance of the piece. The artist who had created it had not called it a sculpture, but a picture.

It took me a while to realize what he had meant by this. I thought that something was missing. And that something was what he had said, a photograph. I stood and observed the piece for a while and then I realized what he had meant. If you looked not at the sculpture, but through it, it created a sort of frame for the beautiful