Come walk with me through the Metropolitan, and see priceless Greek and Roman sculptures, famous European paintings, Degas ballerinas and Rodin’s lifelike, emotional sculptures.
Roman Sculpture
We started out at the my favorite place: the collection of Greek and Roman art (more than 30,000 pieces!) from the Neolithic period to the Roman emperor Constantine.
Although the surface of this piece has been strongly cleaned and even recut in places, evidence of a heavy, dark incrustation, formed during centuries of burial, is still visible, especially at the back. The expanse of chest and the full, fleshy appearance of the face and neck suggest it was carved in the mid-first century A.D.
Roman, Augustan period, 27 B.C. – A.D. 14
This life-sized statue was found on the eastern Mediterranean island of Rhodes, whose ancient Greek cities were wealthy, flourishing centers of commerce and culture under the Romans. With his broad face and short hair, the boy resembles young princes in the family of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, but he may have been the son of an important Roman official stationed on Rhodes or the son of a wealthy Greek.
Statues of members of the Julio-Claudian imperial families, both living and already deceased, were often displayed together in public spaces such as the forum of a city, a basilica, or theater.
This fragmentary head (below) comes from an over-sized portrait bust or statue of Lucius Verus, co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius (r. A.D. 161-180). At the beginning of his reign, Verus was sent to the East to direct military operations against the Parthians, and although the war was concluded successfully in A.D. 166, his returning troops brought back the plague, which ravaged the Empire for several years thereafter. He is compared unfavorable with Marcus Aurelius by the ancient sources, but the portrait shown here has a leonine majesty that gives little indication of his reputation as an idle and dissolute ruler.
The well-formed but rather puffy features, the prominent eyes and the deeply waved hair exemplify mid-Antoine standards of beauty and are identifying traits of the empress Faustina, wife to emperor Marcus Aurelius.
The statue shows the Goddess of Love (Roman Venus, Greek Aphrodite) in one of her traditional poses, based on a Hellenistic model from the fourth or third century B.C.E. that was frequently coped in Roman times.
This Venus comes from the collection of the Duke of Northumberland and was acquired in Italy during a Grand Tour in the eighteenth century. Although her arms are now lost, her right hand probably reached upward to arrange her wet hair, while her left extended downward as if to catch the mantle that is about to fall from her hips.
Greek and Roman household artifacts & jewelry
The green glass cinerary urn still has ashes in it and dates from the 2nd half of the 1st century CE. (17.194.146). The marble plaque with funerary inscription recording the death of a woman called Lollia Genialis. (x.248.2). Link to full description here.
The mosaic floor panel above is from 2nd century CE was found in an olive grove at Daphne-Harbiye in 1937. Link to museum’s full description here.
This stunning marble and bronze table is believed to have been used in the public part of a wealthy Roman’s villa, such as the atrium, and used to display a fine work of art or expensive vessels.
Link to full description here.
These imposing serpentine armbands represent two tritons, male and female, each holding a small winged Eros. The hoops behind the tritons’ heads were used to attach the armbands to the sleeves of a garment, for otherwise their weight (each over 6.5 ounces) would have caused them to slip down the arms. So THAT’S how they did it!
56.11.5 Full description here
This massive bracelet or armlet is cast in solid gold. The scales and details of the snake’s head were chased after casting. I own a repro of it and am crazy for it. They probably still sell it in the gift shop.
1988.22 Full description here
Roman blown glass – I get so lost gazing at these. Aren’t they glorious?
Bronze Roman Chariot
In 1902, a landowner working on his property accidently discovered a subterranean built tomb covered by a mound.
His investigations revealed the remains of a parade chariot, as well as bronze, ceramic and iron utensils together with other grave goods.
The discovered treasures were purchased in 1903 by General Luigi Palma di Cesnola, the first director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Museum’s full description of the Chariot here.
European Paintings – a few of my favs
The painting of the biblical character Salome debuted in the Paris salon of 1870, several months before Regnault was killed in the Franco-Prussian War.
On view in gallery 804. Full description here
The figure depicted here is a mercenary of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish term for him is bashi-bazouk, which translates as “headless.”
On view in gallery 804. Full description here
On view in gallery 804. Full description here
On view in gallery 804. Full description here
Dahl visited Vesuvius just before Christmas 1820, to witness its eruptions at close-hand. He immediately made an oil sketch (Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen) that served as the basis for the present work, completed four years later for Prince Christian Frederik, later King Christian VIII of Denmark. This is a large painting, and so impressive in person! On view in gallery 807. Full description here
This fabulous painting of the waterfront ship and lumbar yard of Larsens Plads was unsold at the time of Dahl’s death. It’s another one to get lost in.
On view in gallery 807. Full description here
This is an unfinished repetition, reduced in size and much simplified, of the celebrated Grande Odalisque of 1814 (Musée du Louvre, Paris), an imagined concubine in a Middle Eastern harem. Always loved this painting. On view in gallery 801. Full description here
The moment when the sculpture of Galatea was brought to life by the goddess Venus, in fulfillment of Pygmalion’s wish for a wife as beautiful as the sculpture he created.
27.200 On view in gallery 800. Full description here
Edgar Degas Collection
Over half of Degas’ work are of ballet dancers. I love them all, he made their world come alive for me!
The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer
This piece was created in 1880, when Degas was starting to go blind. As it became harder to paint be began making sculptures.
The piece was cast in 1922, and the tutu created in 2018. You can watch a video about the construction of the new tutu for the Met’s cast here.
29.100.370 Museum’s full description of piece here
Degas – The Tub Series
The Tub Series: Paintings:
Bather Stepping into a Tub, 1890
Woman Drying Her Arm, late 1880’s-early 1890s
Woman with a Towel, 1894 or 1898
Sculpture: The Tub (1888-89) Museum’s full description of sculpture here
Sculptures by Auguste Rodin
I was excited to revisit the masterful work of Rodin, the “father of modern sculpture”.
Adam is shown after his expulsion from paradise, his eyes staring blindly and his body staggered by the consequences of his sin. Full museum description here
In 1876 Rodin traveled to Italy seeking how Michelangelo “breathed life” into his figures. You can feel the shame in this one, it’s sad.
Rodin intended Eve and his Adam sculptures to flank his monumental bronze doorway, The Gates of Hell. The bronze casts of Adam and Eve on display here were commissioned in 1910 from plaster models in the sculptor’s studio. 11.173.2 Full description here
The Thinker was made to sit over the lintel or doorway, The Gates of Hell, contemplating the fate of the damned. I have had a plaster copy for years, and never knew that was what The Thinker was thinking about. Ignorance was bliss. 11.173.9 Full museum description here
One of the Burghers of Calais grouping, representing varying degrees of heroism and grief. I need to really check these out; I’m intrigued 40.12.16 Full description here
Top to bottom:
Bacchante (Grapes or Autumn, 1874, Auguste Rodin 1975.312.7 full description here
Mask of Rose Beuret, 1880-82, Auguste Rodin
Rose Beuret was Rodin’s mistress after he left the seminary where he had been training to take holy orders. 1984-364.10 full description here
The Hand of Rodin, 1917, Auguste Rodin. Shortly before Rodin’s death, his assistant, Paul Cruet, took a cast of his master’s hand and combined it with a small female torso by Rodin.
66.247.6 full description here
The sensuously entwined sea deities of Triton and Nereid – just fabulous.
12.11.2 full description here
Visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Do yourself a favor and buy your tickets before you arrive; it’s much faster than waiting in line, and they’ll just scan your phone.
Adult tickets are $30, students $17 with ID. Seniors $22 and children under 12 are free. The Museum is closed on Wednesdays.
You can find the Met at 1000 Fifth Avenue. It’s about 25 minutes from Grand Central by either bus or subway.
MetMuseum.org – plan your visit
Thanks so much for viewing my photos. I hope I’ve inspired you to visit the museum, whether for the first time or the 100th. Please leave me a comment!
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