Back in 2015 we had the opportunity to tour the Naval Academy grounds, including the chapel and the museum. The part that impressed us the most was the collection of model ships on the second floor of the museum. I took a ton of photos during that trip that you can see at the original post.
This time, since we had already been through the display in 2015, I was fascinated mostly with all of the small details of the models—the figureheads, the lifeboats, all of the filigree details. Ships were the pride and joy of their respective countries and were decorated as such. At some point, though, the bean counters discovered that a whole lot of money was being spent on artistic flair and put a Kabash on the whole thing. Here's the description of the order.
It's unfortunate, because we've lost something in the removal of this art. With the decoration of features from their homeland, there was some sense of the culture they were fighting to preserve. While we have evolved from some of the more socially unacceptable portions of those cultures, the art is still an important look into that portion of history, something I fear we are losing with our dismissal of art in our current culture.
If you ever find yourself in Annapolis, please take an afternoon and visit the Naval Academy. It's free and open to the public and is one of the best kept secrets out there.
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| Naval Academy Chapel |
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| The famous pipe organ on the balcony |
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| The crypt of John Paul Jones in the basement of the chapel |
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One of the ships carved out of bone by the French prisoners of war. They carved them from
bones left from their dinners. |
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| Bone carved ship |
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| Bone carved ship |
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| Bone carving |
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| Bone carved ship |
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| An Ironclad ship |
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| An early submarine |
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| A replica of the famous Iwo Jima statue |
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