Sister Wendy's Grand Tour

Sister Wendy Beckett is a self-taught art critic (she studied art in her cloister by reading books and examining postcards) who charms ordinary folks and irritates professional art historians. On this, her first visit to Europe to actually see the masterpieces, Sister Wendy holds forth in characteristically (and colorfully) opinionated fashion. While hardly a "radfem," she does, for instance, get genteelly (and hilariously) upset about Hans Burgkmair's duo panels of St. Ulrich and St. Barbara. St. Ulrich--who has little fame in Christian history--is depicted as looking noble and soulful, while St. Barbara, a genuine saint and martyr, is u-g-l-y and condescending-looking. Sister Wendy explodes. "Look at her! She's a madam! She's a hussy! Look at her face...the small, prim, nasty mouth...she's not an appealing character! Now why should a man clearly be a saint and the woman, not? Can it be Burgkmair is a sexist? I don't mean to be angry about this, so I've decided to consider it very funny." While the Grand Tour appears to be loosely based on art chronology from the Renaissance to the early 20th Century, in reality it's primarily organized around individual museums and religious sites, taking viewers from Florence to Vienna to Rome to Amsterdam to Antwerp to Madrid to Paris to Venice to Berlin to St. Petersburg. (We can only hope that wasn't her actual itinerary!) Aside from an abrupt ending, this video is a charming and unusual entry in the field of art interpretation, which many will find both enlightening and entertaining. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)