Metropolitan Museum of Art-NYC

On April 19, 2012, I took a day trip with my mother to visit the art museums of New York. The first one that we visited was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, on 5th Avenue and 82nd Street. We spent quite a few hours there enjoying as much as we could. It was a beautiful sunny day and a fantastic day off with my mother. We had an amazing time walking through each wing. I've been to the Met several times before and love it more every time that I go. I always learn something new when I go. This time, my mother and I were lucky enough to have gone on a day where a bunch of students were painting in the museum and replicating some historical paintings. It was a wonderful and inspiring experience to get to watch these talented artists. 

When you first look at the map of the museum, you feel completely overwhelmed with all that there is to see. There is so much to see around every corner and you want to be able to embrace every piece individually. The first floor has a lot to look at mainly Roman and Egyptian art. Those two sections are huge and there is so much to look at which excited me because when I was young I always loved to learn about Egyptology.

When we first entered the museum, on the right, we saw this statue near the entrance to the Egyptian section. This is a Colossal Statue of a Pharaoh from the Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12 during the reign of Amenemhat II. The statue is created out of granodiorite. There are a lot of similar statues of Pharaohs like this, however, I have never seen one so clean and unbroken. This particular statue towers over you and is amazing to look at knowing that this is from so long ago.

This is a Bronze statue of Eros sleeping. It's a Greek, Hellenistic statue created between the 3rd Century B.C. and 1st Century A.D. This statue depicts a sleeping baby Eros who is the god of love. This statue is different from the regular powerful statues that were usually created of Eros. This one shows him on earth and disarmed as well as a baby. I thought that this piece was so adorable and peaceful. A quiet little nap for a cute little baby. Then I looked at the back and saw wings and was even more interested.

These statues are four Egyptian statues of the Goddess Sakhmet. They were created during the New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 during the reign of Amenhotep III, between 1390-1352 B.C. This goddess represented the force of violence, unexpected disaster, and illness. She is depicted with the head of a lioness. Amenhotep III commissioned for hundreds of these statues to be created for his temple. I love Egyptian art and I could only imagine seeing these in front or inside of a temple decorating and protecting the rooms. It is fascinating to me and I enjoyed looking at this and the other Egyptian art throughout the museum.

This is a Marble head of the poet, writer and philosopher, Homer. This piece was created during the Roman Imperial period, the 1st-2nd century AD. Although there are many statues that look like this from the Roman period, I had just read the Iliad and was interested to see what the writer looked like. Homer was a blind poet who was extremely famous among the Greeks. His tales were told and retold for centuries, even still today.

This is a marble Urn from the Byzantine period around the year 400. The decorations on it is a grapevine decoration and was hand carved. I was already attracted to this vase because of it's massive size, but when I found out that it was hand carved, I was speechless. I could never even fathom what it would be like to try and carve this. I cannot even sculpt something out of clay let alone carve something this beautiful. 

I remember learning about the Byzantine period and the paintings that were created from that period. So when I saw this piece I was excited to know some things about it before even reading about it such as the gold on the piece is real flakes of gold in tempera paint and was painted first before anything else. This piece is called Icon with Christ Carrying the Cross by Nicolaos Tzafouris from 1489-1500 in Crete, it's created with tempera paint on a wood panel. Tzafouris was one of the Byzantine period's icons in art. This particular painting of his, has a combination of Byzantine and Latin elements with Cretan and Italian armor used on the soldiers. 

I saw this archway near some of the Roman and Byzantine artworks and I thought it was fascinating. It made you feel like you were walking into another realm of history. This piece was also hand carved and beautifully done.

This was one of my mother's favorite pieces. It is a stained glass scene from the Legend of Saint Vincent of Saragossa and the History of his Relics. The Piece was painted in about 1245-47 and made with pot-metal glass, vitreous paint and lead. The piece is French and was found in the now destroyed Lady Chapel of the Abbey of Saint Germain des Pres, Paris. The monks that resided in the Chapel were devoted to Saint Vincent. These scenes depict Vincent's life and also his death, it shows him being thrown into the sea and also an angel watching him. 

Although this scene has been depicted many times before, I was amazed to learn that this piece is actually an embroidery. This piece is called The Birth of John the Baptist and the design is attributed to Benozzo Gozzoli. The apparel was created with silk and metal thread and is an embroidered panel that was said to be decoration from a priest's salmatic. The technique of embroidering the colored silk over the metal makes for a stunning scene of beauty. There is so much detail to this scene, I remember when I was little and my grandmother would embroider for us, but that was always to the extent of a Santa and a Rudolph. I could never imagine anyone having the amount of talent it would take to create this.

Above the Altar

This room depicts the altarpiece and wainscoting from the Chapel of the Cratea De La Bastie D'urfe. The large pieces are made of walnut inlaid with various woods and are carved and partly gilt. The pieces were designed by Jacopo Barozzida Vignoia in 1547-48. I thought that this room was really interesting and had to look at each design and art work in each panel of wood. It's amazing how well this room was preserved considering it's age. The altarpiece itself depicts the last supper and the panels are architectural views, still-lifes, sacred subjects and ornamental patterns. Each piece is extremely well done with it's details and patterns. I was very impressed.

I thought that this piece was very interesting, unlike anything I have seen before. The piece is so strange and well done, I really liked it. The sculpture is called Siren and is made of bronze. It's an Italian piece and was made in 1570-90. The siren is the name of this creature and was a heraldic device of the Roman Colonna family. It was said to be a gift for the princess of the family when she was married. I have surprisingly never heard of this creature and therefore was really interested in learning about it and the fact that it is similar to a mermaid but with two tails instead of one.

This is a photo looking down at one of the special exhibits of arms and armor on the first floor as well as a picture of a display of the armor on top of their horses.The horses have armor on as well. It contained European armor, including pieces from the Renaissance era. There is also armor in that room with Islam from the 15th century and jeweled weapons that were really interesting to look at. I took a picture from the second floor to see the flags associated with the armor in that room.

I thought that this piece was magnificent. The piece itself have different characters holding up the instrument and two other sculptures on either side. This instrument is called a Harpsichord. It was made in Rome in 1670 and the inventor's name was Michele Todini. The decorations are called a frieze and depicts the triumph of Galatea. There are three Tritons supporting the piece as well. The picture on the right depicts Polyphemus playing a bagpipe. This artwork is considered baroque decorative art and this invention would later lead to the invention of the piano. This piece is absolutely breathtaking and I almost wanted to play it if I did not know how fragile it really was. 

This is a picture of the first student that I saw recreating a piece of art in his own perspective. It was fascinating watching this artist work. His technique with the paintbrush was unlike I have ever witnessed before. He would use quick short strokes of the brush and add definition and blend the colors together very precisely. The way that he would study the original work and then be able to place one brush stroke so quickly was remarkable. He was extremely talented and it was memorizing watching him work. The original painting was created with oil on canvas called Portrait of a Man by Valazquez in the 15th century.

Close up of dress

This painting caught my eye because of the detail in the dress. The way that the artist was able to capture the shimmer of the dress was very impressive to me. I continued to stare at it and look at the painting as a whole. This painting was created by Arthur Devis in 1750 with oil on canvas and is called Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bull. This painting contains a Geogian interiors and dark walls which help to bring out the shine of the dress. Their Persian carpet underneath them expresses their wealth as well as their expensive furniture.

This painting is called Wheat Fields by Jacob van Ruisdael. It was created in 1670 with oils on canvas. This scene was a favorite of Ruisdael's to paint and may have been done for a private collection to be hung in a home. I found this painting stunning, mainly because of the clouds. Ruisdael was able to capture such great detail and realism in the clouds. They seem to completely overpower the fields and the land below them.

I remembered this painting from my art history class just the week prior to going to the museum. So when I saw this painting up close and personally, I was very excited. This painting was created by Rembrandt in 1660. It is a self portrait created with oil on canvas. I looked at a room full of his paintings and noticed one similarity with every portrait; each individual seems to glow against the dark backgrounds. The face is the obvious focal point for each one and this painting does not prove otherwise. He carefully modeled and textured his head and face and paid very close attention to detail. The clothes he is wearing are better known as work clothes with the exception of his hat which is an artist's hat.

This painting had a fascinating glow to it that really stuck out among the other paintings it was around. The angel had such a brightness to it, I could never capture such luminance, no matter what I tried. This painting was created by Samuel van Hoogstraten in the 1670. It is an oil on canvas painting and is called The Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin. The painter was actually a pupil of Rembrandt's. The painting has classic qualities and a Caravaggio glow that spoke to me.

This painter was one of my favorites that was working that day. I didn't get her name because I did not want to bother her while she was working so hard, however, he attention to detail and the perfect replication of colors and composition was amazing to me. I was in awe as I watched her work; it seemed to come very easy to her. The painting that she was working on was called Gamepiece with a Dead Heron ("Falconer's Bag) by Jan Weenix. The painting was created in 1695 with oils on canvas. The original painting was very interesting and had something different everywhere I looked. I wanted to get a closer picture, however, I did not want to get in the artist's way.

This was a painting that was in the same room as the Gamepiece painting (above) and I found it to be interesting as well. There was also something to look at in every corner. The details in the peacock's tail was amazing. The painting was created with oils on canvas by a Dutch artist named Melchior d'Hondecoeter in 1683 Peacocks.

I had just recently did a paper on Da Vinci's painting John the Baptist, so when I saw this painting I know exactly what the painting was portraying and I could not help but stare at the gory scene. The colors were so vibrant and soft considering it is such a morbid painting. The piece was created by Andrea Solario in 1507 with oils on canvas and is called Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist. Solario was attempting to paint a close up of the scene that contrasted the girlish beauty of Salome with Saint John's decapitated head. I was surprised to see this piece because I thought that I had seen it in another museum I recently visited. The piece that I remember seeing however was from the MFA in Boston and was very similar created by Bernardino Luini. If I had not taken a second look at the pictures, I would have thought that this piece was a replica. 

This piece is called The Mass of Saint Basil by Pierre Hubert Subleyras. He created it with oils on canvas in 1746. This was a practice piece for Subleyras for his altarpiece for Saint Peter's cathedral in Rome. The piece depicts Saint Basil the Great and Emporer Valena as well as priests and other figures. This piece reminds me of the mannerism paintings that I studied during art history class and so I was fascinated by the bright primary colors and the beautiful detail that the artist was able to capture.

This painting, looking far away was a little odd to me but still thought that it was amazingly detailed with beautiful shading. However, looking closer at it, I was in even more shock. I could not believe that the Virgin was lactating and on top of that, Cupid was urinating on her. It was a shocking display of something one could see as a totally innocent painting. I pointed it out to my mother and she was just as shocked as I would. Either way, I still found this painting to be quite stunning and the bright colors and detail of the flesh colors are beautiful. This piece is called Venus and Cupid and is painted with oils on canvas by Lorenzo Lotto during the Benetian Renaissance. The actions of Cupid is a sign of fertility as well.

These pieces were created by Giuliano do Piero di Simone Bugiardini with oils on canvas and is a depiction of Adam and Eve. I thought that the way that Bugiardini was able to incorporate two paintings together and make them into one work of art was beautifully done and very well matched. The colors flow through both of the pieces perfectly and creates the illusion of just one piece.

This piece was created by Peter Paul Rubens in the mid-late 1630s with oils on wood and is called Rubens, His Wife Helena Fourment. I was attracted to this piece because of the shadows. Also, the child in the painting is adorable, I thought that the way he portrayed her was absolutely adorable, I was to just squeeze her chubby little cheeks. The entire painting has many symbols of fertility, including the parrot and the fountain.

I found this painting above a door way to go into another doorway of more magnificent art. It was unlike anything I had seen up to that point. There is a skeleton behind the figure and the entire painting is a dark and gloomy setting almost as though death is upon the woman. The painting is called Allegory of Avarice and is created by Jacopo Ligozzi with oils on canvas. It is believed that the woman is Sapphira in Purgatory for her husbands actions of withholding money from the Christian community in Jerusalem. This is suggested by the money bag that she is holding in her hands. It represents her greed and deception towards the people.

As small as this piece looks in the photo, it is actually quite large which is what brought it to my attention when I entered that room. It was a massive and impressive piece with such a strange shape and composition that I was really interested in it. The piece is called The Glorification of the Barbaro Family, created in 1750 with oils on canvas by a man named Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The piece was meant to decorate a ceiling of the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice. The man is Valor and is shown with a lion as well as Fame blowing her trumpet and holding an olive branch. Abundance is also depicting with a cornucopia and Pridence with a snake and Nobility with a statue of Minerva.

There was a hallway that separated two sections of the museum and contained a lot of early photography. The photos were great to look at and see how far we have come since these pictures. I do however, prefer the look of these photos, they are more grainy and natural. This particular photo was shot by Eugene Atget and is called Versailles-Cour du Parc, created with an albumen silver print from a glass negative in 1902. The photo depicts a statue and others in the background and the way that the scene is lit gives more drama to the photo.

This piece is so beautiful and romantic. The way that the two are portrayed with such a glow and the enjoyment expressed in their body language is amazing. The details in the nature surrounding them is astonishing. This piece was painted by Pierre-Auguste Cot in 1873 with oils on canvas and is called Springtime. This is one of Cot's most famous works and I can absolutely see why that would be. It is absolutely stunning in my opinion.

This was another very dark painting that caught my eye and interested me. It is created by Theodore Rousseau with oils on canvas and created in 1846-67 and is called The Forest in Winter at Sunset. The forest itself is the Fontainebleau Forest and remains unfinished as Rousseau died before he was able to finish it. The piece reminds me of the movie Sleepy Hollow and the dark forest that the Headless Horseman resided in.

This is also a very dark painting that I enjoyed looking at. The glow behind the trees and behind the rocks is amazingly done. It takes great skill to be able to portray such a brilliant glow. The piece was created by Alexandre Calame with oils on canvas and is called Souvenir of Handeck. The painting is suppose to suggest the power and unpredictability of nature. The frame of the painting is it's original picked by Calame and the double-headed eagle at the corners of the piece suggest that the piece was intended for a Russian patron.

This piece is called Hagar in the Wilderness by Camille Corot in 1835 with oils on canvas. This piece is actually a biblical painting and shows an Old Testament story. The piece shows Hagar, the servant of Sarah, the wife of Abraham and Ishmael in a moment of divine salvation. The landscape in this piece is very powerful and extraordinary. There is so much space, it feels as though the viewer is in the painting looking out at the land. Just the detail in the rocks itself is so realistic.

I was fascinated by the way the artist was able to exaggerate the glow of the women's skin in this piece and make it look so natural at the same time. They are all beautifully detailed and so fleshy. There is so much going on within the painting that you have to look all around to get the whole painting. The piece is called Florinda and was created in 1853 with oils on canvas by the artist, Franz Xaver Winterhalt. It depicts part of the legend of Roderick and Spanish Visigoth king where he spies on his maids of honor to choose one to be the fairest of them all. He chooses Florinda whom he fell in love with. The composition itself is different and it almost makes the viewer feel as though they have stumbled upon these women and is interrupting their peaceful day.

I recently studied Manet for my art history class and thought that his work was really well done. The woman in the painting seems as though she is trying to hide her identity to the viewers as though in a private moment and does not want to be disturbed. The piece is called Madame Manet (Suzanne Leenhoff) created in 1880 with oils on canvas by Edouard Manet. This is the last portrait that Manet would ever paint of his wife and was created in a suburb of Paris called Believue.

This is a piece by Claude Monet created in 1883 with oils on canvas called The Manneporte. This painting is part of a series that he painted of this beach at Etretat on the Normandy coast. There are 18 paintings like this one but some depict different rock formations near this one. While painting the piece, Monet concentrated on the lighting as the sun falls on the rocks and the glow that it emits. The piece is beautifully done. I remember having to recreate this painting when I was in high school, it was so interesting trying to recreate Monet's brush strokes and how every obvious stroke had it's own specific purpose. This piece is amazingly done and depicts a beautiful yet simple scene.

Aside from Starry Night, this is my favorite Van Gogh painting. I did not know that this particular painting was at the Met and so when I saw it, I was in utter awe and stared at it for a good ten minutes. Up close, one can really see the brush strokes and the thickness of the paint that he used. It was amazing to be able to embrace this painting. The painting was created by Vincent van Gogh with oils on canvas in 1889 and is called Wheat Field with Cypresses. Van Gogh had painted this piece while he was in an asylum for his depression and suicidal thoughts.

This painting is one of my favorites of my mother's of Van Gogh. This is her favorite for no other reason than the fact that it is so random. It is almost as thought Van Gogh was bored and decided that his shoes were the nearest thing for him to paint. The way he painted it, however, is fantastic, with so many different colors and such depth.Van Gogh painted this in 1888 with oils on canvas and is called Shoes.

This is a painting by Georges Seurat called Circus Sideshow. It was created in 1887-88 and is oil on canvas. I thought that this piece was really interesting because it's all pointillism like is other famous painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. The way he was able to create such fine little dots and turn it into something so interesting is remarkable. I love the characters in this piece and the main guy in the middle, who is my favorite. He, as the ring master, has such a whimsical look to him. Seurat based this painting on a traveling circus created by Fernand Corvi in Paris.

This was another pointillist painting that caught my eye created by a different artist. The artist's name is Paul Signac and is called Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde (La Bonne-Mere), Marseilles created in 19905-6 with oils on canvas. The piece immediately caught my eye because of the bright colors and beautiful composition. It was so well done and has so much detail and depth to it, I was in awe when I first looked at it. This piece was part of a study that Signac was doing with division of light and pure color and using many different colors in one section to create one solid color.

This piece was among others but this one was laying on it's side which I found interesting. I was very curious as to why this was the only figure to be on the ground while the others were standing tall. The piece is called The Martyr and was modeled in 1885 out of bronze by a French artist by the name of Auguste Rodin. Originally, this sculpture was a standing figure on the lintel of The Gates of Hell. However, when Rodin decided to enlarge it, he also decided to lay it on it's side so that it would heighten the tension with the arm and head hanging over the side and his limbs looking as though they are convulsing.

Thus concluding my trip to the Met. It was an amazing experience and I love to go there. I especially love going with my mother. It's great bonding time with her and we could spend hours walking through. I cannot wait to go again to visit this amazing museum.