Metropolitan Museum of Art Intro

Hello All,

I made my way to New York City this weekend and connected with my sister who took the train from Long Island to come check out the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have my discussion pieces for my paper, but I wanted to share some of the things that I chose not to include, because I still thought them to be interesting. They're from the various areas we visited (we didn't see the entire museum; I only had a four hour window to work with, but we did get to Egyptian, Medieval, Asian, and European art). Think of this as one of those appetizer sampler plates you can order at Chili's!



First up is a very elaborate mummy mask that we saw on display in the Egyptian section on the first floor. The front of the funerary mask is super elaborate, facial detail was very well done, and the texture of the hair kept me examining the piece for quite awhile. It is composed of plaster, cartonnage (research tells me this is linen mixed with more plaster) and paint. where the piece gets interesting for me is the preservation of the sides and the back, which depict your expected scenery of Egyptian gods.

I was amazed at the preservation of the color, still so vibrant! I was awestruck at the still intact artwork all around the headpiece. The placard adjacent to the display tells us that the scarab wreath, "represents the sun appearing at dawn, a metaphor for rebirth," and that, "The lower register centers on the god Osiris, the source of regenerative power, who is flanked by Isis and Nephthys." Nephthys is sister to Osiris and commonly depicted as protector of mummies.



Account Book Cover. 1343 AD

Next up is something I never expected to see in a museum. What you are looking at is a very old, very early, account book. The placard explains, "Book of the Income and Expenses of the Biccherna of the Commune of Siena from the First of July to the First of January 1343." The cover shows the owners of the book engaged in accounting for the funds of whomever they were responsible for. I was excited to see this for a few reasons. As I mentioned previously in my Yale Art Gallery posting (which you should read if you haven't yet) that Siena was a very famous region of Italy during the early Renaissance. The second reason I was excited was because of the date. 1343 AD is almost 100 years before the birth of Luca Pacioli, the father of the double entry book keeping system for accounting (sorry, I'm an accounting major and nerdy things excite me sometimes!), so I couldn't help but wonder what the hell early book keeping systems looked like prior to the implementation of our modern system? What else intrigued me was the fact that the book binding was composed of wood, namely because you wouldn't get reuse out of something like this at this point in history.



From the European art section of the museum, I also got an up close look at an incredibly famous painting, that anyone who has enrolled in humanities courses at Albertus should recognize easily.

The Death of Socrates. Jacque Louis David
1787. Oil on Canvas 

 Jacque Louis David's rendition of The Death of Socrates is fairly well-known. I can count at least three liberal arts and humanities courses I have taken at Albertus that have brought this painting up when discussing Apology. I never imagined I'd get a change to see it up close!
If you're unfamiliar with the story of Socrates, in his lifetime as a Greek philosopher, he sought to seek out those wiser than he, as the Oracle at Delphi prophesied there was none wiser than he. Because of his dialogues, he was labelled a threat to the Greek state and put on trial for alleged corruption of Athenian youth. He is sentenced to death by ingestion of hemlock, which he willingly undertakes.

This is where the painting picks up. Socrates is ready to meet his fate, defiant, as evident by his stern facial expression, and finger pointing. There is much symbolism involved in the painting, the shackles heaped to the floor, the light shining through the prison cell, illuminating Socrates symbolizing his enlightenment and freedom in death. His followers all around him mourn his loss as he tries to tell them that this is for the best. As I've said, I've seen the painting so many times in the past but never up close. There was one detail I noticed this time that I never saw.



There are individuals leaving the prison cell in the background, waving farewell. They are clearly mourning, but yet they still leave Socrates in his hour of triumph.

The last piece I chose to share but not include in my final paper was from the Asian art section. The wing of the museum over here is broken up into the different regions of Eastern and Southeast Asia. To tell you that there is a very large amount of Buddha statues on display is an understatement. We must have spent probably an hour just looking at various statues of Buddha and various Hindi gods and goddesses. There was plenty more to see in terms of actual art as well, but the statues are really worth viewing, as you can see half a dozen statues of a single deity and no two are alike.

11th Century Representation of Buddha
Delivering his First Sermon.

I think this one is the best chosen to discuss. This is an 11th century representation of the Buddha preaching his first sermon at Sarnath after reaching enlightenment. I did research Buddhism for a period, not as a religion, but because it was something that you don't see regularly in American culture, despite being such a large religion, so I am somewhat familiar with the reason for the composition of the statue. If you are unfamiliar with Buddhist theology, Gautama Buddha was a monk, who, unsatisfied with the ascetic life of a monk in ancient India, sat beneath the Bodhi tree and vowed to not move until he attained enlightenment. Forty-nine days passed before he reached this state. Sarnath was where he gave his first sermon on the Dharma.

So since this is primarily a religious artifact, there is very distinct symbolism in what he is doing. Buddha's seated position is the lotus position and in meditation, it encourages proper breathing and is representative of physical stability. The hand position is representative of turning the Dharmachakra (cycle of change) wheel in motion, something he accomplished in his first sermon. One of the things I wondered as I looked at most of these statues (and have yet to research) was why in the majority of representations there is what appears to be a floral design in the palm of the hand?

So there you have it. This is a small example of where we had wandered through the museum and what we had seen. There was quite a bit left unseen also. In the American wing, there is a floor that is just period rooms from the 17th century to present day. I desperately wanted to go see this, but the two of us were so exhausted at that point. There was also the whole section of contemporary art and Greek and Middle Eastern Art that I have yet to see. I have two distinct and comparable pieces for my paper that I'm excited to discuss and plenty more to write about from visiting the museum by the end of the week.