The Ten Masterpieces of Irish paintings and the Olympic torch I was lucky to be invited by Agnes, a volunteer from

SVP and recently retired te acher, to see with her the ten pictures that were promoted in a campaigne by RTE . So yesterday she took me with her car in the city centre to visit the National G alleries. She managed the time very well, so we were there just in time to see the Olympic torch passing the street, somewhere near the Dil, right near a building named Th e Kildare Club. Agnes was accompanied by her grandson, Shane, a smart boy in the second class wh o didnt have school yesterday. We stayed at the side of the street, already full of children and their teachers from different parts of Ireland. Agnes could tell where they are from by(from) their accent. So I saw caravans and police cars passing, and, at the end/then/finnaly, a sport ive girl carrying the torch. She relayed(?) the torch just in front of me to a m an. I felt like I was taking part in a ritual, in which the most important fact is that it is still running/continuing down the years. In the Galleries, the first picture that Shane showed me was the one that won t he first place: Hellelil and Hildebrand, or The Meeting on the Turret Stairs, by F rederic William Burton 1816-1900. The painting is based on a Duch ballad telling the story of a bodyguard, Hellelil, who fell in love with the princess Hildebra nd. When the relation is discovered, Hellelil is condemned to be killed by the p rincesss brother. The picture represents the last meeting between the two. The painting can be seen just three hours in the week, Monday, Wednesday and Sat urday between 11 and 12am. Other pictures that I saw: The taking of the Christ Caravaggio, some pictures of J ack Butler Yeats, a portret of an artiste, Dona ..x.., by Goya, a Manet, a Vermeer , a Brugel a painting showing a wedding in a community of peasants. I was impressed. I have to go there with my son. Entrance to the Galleries is fr ee, which is wonderful.