Summer's end at the National Gallery

As the summer surrenders to August, the Sunday 2 o'clock lectures at the National Gallery turn inward and the staff step forward to present their own work. Throughout the year, renowned experts take the podium - expounding on theories, explicating new critiques, pursuing ideas for their own sake. Then, the National Gallery staff, skilled at working with the public, turn their efforts to telling you something you might have a chance a remembering. How Dutch home portraits subtly show up the wealth and taste of the patron. How St. John may not be melancholia personified, but rather a young hunk of a man, a promise of the pleasures to come in paradise. Do not be deceived by the decorously dry titles. These can be the best tales of the year, plug-ins for the brain.