Second Bank/Portrait Gallery (Katy Blanchard)

THE SECOND NATIONAL BANK





There is a chance that I enjoy a good strong doric column more than other museum goers. That being said, The Second Bank right here in Philly (built by Wm. Strickland, who also built the nearby Merchant's Exchange), currently houses a colonial portrait gallery. The building itself is impressive, even for those that don't find the doric the finest of the column choices. But I will admit that the entirety of the museum was impressive. You enter into the lobby and you can proceed straight through, or through some rooms to the left or the right. There is a room with two computers on which you can search the portraits in the collection by historical activity, person, or even donor.

Portraits are everywhere. High on walls, in groups, and hung singularly. Each time they are accompanied by a small number to the lower right corner and the text can be found below. This allows the eye to not be so cluttered by the text. One example is below:








In the main section of the building, under the central vault, the architecture of the room is mirrored in large steel structures. [reminescent of the Ben Franklin House across the street]

I found this incredibly striking. It allowed the architecture to speak for itself, tied the history of the historic structure to the modern form of exposed steel, gave space to the room without using thick walls to obscure the images, and really kept the flow of the space. [disclaimer: i really like exposed steel]

In the back gallery, there were portraits surrounding the top of the gallery, again with the small numbers to lead you the text below.

In between the portraits and the text was a series of window panels and scrims that were lit with varying degrees of light that created a mosaic of period imagery.

I must say that though I am not a portrait person, the display of the material in this building was incredibly eyepleasing.