How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : The Big Apple, New York City: Day 2 Part 2 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here we are at the Met. The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the United States

Gallery 162: Roman Sculpture Court

On view in the center of the court are 20 Roman sculptures created between the first century B.C. and third century A.D., that demonstrate a range of materials, styles, and subject matter.

Marble Statue Group of the Three Graces Between the 2 pillars in the background:

Period: Imperial; 2nd century A.D. Culture: Roman;Medium: Marble. Dimensions: Overall: 48 x 39 in. (123 x 100 cm)

Roman copy of a Greek work of the 2nd century B.C.

These young girls, linked in a dance-like pose, represent The Three Graces: Aglaia (Beauty), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Abundance). In mythology, they grace festivals and organize dances.They serve as handmaidens to Goddess Aphrodite

In Paris Louvre, we saw this version...

Sculptures are beyond amazing...we can almost see the clothes [when on!!] billowing and the joints flexing.

Here's Dionysos, god of wine and divine intoxication, wearing a panther skin over his short chiton and his high sandals with animal heads on the overhanging skin flaps. He stands beside an archaistic female image

Medusa's head chopped off....

In Greek mythology, Medusa was a monstrous Gorgon / winged female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those who gazed into her eyes would turn to stone. Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon.

This is a Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasonsca. A.D. 260–270, Roman...

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This highly ornate and extremely well-preserved Roman marble sarcophagus came to the Metropolitan Museum from the collection of the Dukes of Beaufort and was formerly displayed in their country seat, Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England. An inscription on the unfinished back of the sarcophagus records that it was installed there in 1733.

In contrast to the rough and unsightly back, the sides and front of the sarcophagus are decorated with forty human and animal figures carved in high relief.

The central figure is that of the God Dionysos seated on a panther, but he is overshadowed by four larger standing figures who represent the four Seasons (from left to right, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall). The figures are unusual in that the Seasons are usually portrayed as women, but here they are shown as sturdy youths.

Around these five central figures are placed other Bacchic figures and cultic objects, all carved at a smaller scale.

On the rounded ends of the sarcophagus are two other groups of large figures, similarly intermingled with lesser ones.

On the left end, Mother Earth is portrayed reclining on the ground; she is accompanied by a satyr and a youth carrying fruit.

On the right end, a bearded male figure, probably the personification of a river-god, reclines in front of two winged youths, perhaps representing two additional Seasons.

This sarcophagus is an exquisite example of Roman funerary art.

The marble comes from a quarry in the eastern Mediterranean and was probably shipped to Rome, where it was worked. Only a very wealthy and powerful person would have been able to commission and purchase such a sarcophagus, and it was probably made for a member of one of the old aristocratic families in Rome itself.

The subjects - the triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons - are unlikely to have had any special significance for the deceased, as the design was copied from a sculptor's pattern book.

Very few Roman sarcophagi of this quality have survived though the sarcophagus lacks its lid.

Awesome relief work on another marble sarcophagus.

Marble sarcophagus with the myth of Selene and Endymionearly 3rd century A.D. Roman

An inscription at the center of the lid informs us that this trough-shaped sarcophagus was dedicated to a woman named Arria, who lived fifty years and ten months, by her daughter Aninia Hilara. Arria’s portrait is carved just to the right of the inscription.

The story of Endymion is shown in strongly undercut relief on the front of the sarcophagus. In the center, Selene, the moon goddess, alights from her chariot to visit her beloved, the shepherd Endymion, who reclines at the right. Endymion, most beautiful of men, has been granted eternal youth and eternal sleep. A female figure stands over him, pouring out the magic potion of immortality and holding a bunch of sleep-inducing poppies.

The scene is flanked on the left end of the sarcophagus by a rising Helios, the sun god, and on the right by a descending Selene, each in a chariot.
On the back, a bucolic scene with herdsmen among grazing bulls and unyoked horses is cut in low relief. Allusions to the changeless cycle of nature are combined with a myth of fulfillment through unending sleep.

Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)ca. 360–350 B.C. Obverse, artist painting a statue of HeraklesReverse, Athena with deities

Representations of artists at work are exceedingly rare. This vase illustrates a craft for which virtually no evidence survives, that of applying pigment to stone sculpture using the technique of encaustic. The column and phiale (libation bowl) at the far left indicate an interior space, probably a sanctuary.

In the foreground stands a statue of Herakles with his club, bow, and lion-skin.

The painter, characterized by his cap and his garment worn to leave his upper body bare, applies a mixture of pigment and wax with a spatula to Herakles’ lion-skin. To the left, an African boy tends the brazier on which rods are heating that will spread the tinted wax. Above, Zeus, ruler of the gods, and Nike, personification of victory, preside as Herakles himself ambles in from the right to survey his image.

The reverse, in an outdoor setting, shows Herakles’ staunch protectress, Athena, seated in conversation with one of the Dioskouroi.

To the left, Hermes, the messenger god, turns away from Pan, his son, while Eros plays with a bird below. the pictures may refer to the apotheosis of Herakles. Rather than driving to Mount Olympos in a chariot, Herakles sees himself monumentalized in stone, while Athena, her task accomplished, takes her ease between divine travelers.

EXQUISITE FURNITURE:

Decorative Arts section hosts a variety of exquisite French furniture from the palaces of the French Sun King Louis XIV

The objects in this gallery, dating from the reign of Louis XIV (1638–1715), are made of such precious materials as tropical woods, tortoiseshell, ivory, and gilt bronze.

These pieces with porcelain plaques are noteworthy. Let's see the desk on the right in the above pic.

This is a Drop-front desk (secrétaire à abattant or secrétaire en cabinet)ca. 1776 owned by the Russian queen Maria Feodorovna

It's a graceful oak furniture mounted with 6 Sevres porcelain plaques, marble shelves, moire silk; this exquisite two-piece desk was made about 1776. Open front looks like this.

The history of this secretary is well documented. During the eighteenth century it graced the collections of two remarkably different women.

Its first owner was the popular soprano Marie-Josephine Laguerre (1755–1783), who enjoyed a luxurious and dissolute existence made possible by her wealthy lovers. Her personal property was publicly sold in April 1782, less than a year before her untimely death at the age of 28.

In May of that same year, Maria Feodorovna, grand duchess , and the future empress of Russia visited Paris incognito with her husband, Paul (1754–1801), acquired the porcelain-mounted secretary and other furnishings for her country residence at Pavlovsk.

In the pic below, let's analyze the tall desk with the pink vase... the last piece delivered to Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793) at the Château de Versailles.

It's a Drop-front desk (secrétaire à abattant or secrétaire en cabinet)ca. 1787, Oak veneered with burl thuya, amaranth, mahogany, satinwood, holly, and ebonized holly; painted metal; one soft-paste porcelain plaque; fifteen jasper medallions; gilt-bronze mounts; marble; leather

This is how it opens out...

A porcelain-mounted secretary was among the treasured possessions the Queen entrusted to Daguerre for safekeeping in October 1789, shortly after a mob invaded the palace and the royal family was forced to return to the Château des Tuileries in Paris.

Bouillat, one of the best flower painters at Sèvres, may have painted the beautiful ribbon-tied bouquet on the central plaque.

The blue pointillé border and the jasper medallions are exquisite.

Here's more imperial furniture owned by Marie-Antoinette ...

Mechanical table 1778

This multipurpose table is one of the first pieces ordered by Marie-Antoinette from her favorite cabinetmaker, Jean-Henri Riesener. A native of Westphalia, This table was delivered to Versailles on December 12, 1778, exactly a week before the long-awaited birth of her first child, Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte.

The intricate marquetry decoration of the top has lost some of its subtle coloring over time. Framed alternately with natural (originally white) holly and black-stained holly, the bois satiné trelliswork encloses rosettes cut of an originally bright yellow barberry wood against a stained, soft yellow sycamore ground.

The table could be used for various activities such as eating and writing and also reading and dressing, since the central panel of the top can be lifted to form a lectern and reversed to reveal a mirror.

To alleviate Marie-Antoinette’s discomfort during the advanced state of her pregnancy, this table was fitted with a special mechanism. Hidden behind a finely decorated gilt-bronze plaque at either end, this mechanism allowed the queen to use the table in either a seated or a standing position. By means of a detachable crank at one side, the top can be raised or lowered on ratcheted metal shafts that move up or down in the hollow legs (see pic below).

The veneers in this type of marquetry used to create designs are primarily woods, but may include bone, ivory, turtle-shell (conventionally called "tortoiseshell"), mother-of-pearl, pewter, brass or fine metals [examples later in this post]

Pressing buttons along the front edge of the table releases the hinged lids to six compartments for the storage of cosmetic and writing equipment.

Combination table... Special pieces of furniture were designed for the toilette, such as this elegant marquetry table signed by Martin Carlin, which is more versatile than most dressing tables. Looks like this unopened...

Opens out like this...

The upper section can be removed to serve as a bed table, as it has its own short legs. It is fitted with an adjustable mirror that can be reversed to form a book rest. A shallow drawer is provided in front, and the lidded compartments on either side are used for the storage of toilet articles.

The lower section is a full size table with a marble top, pull-out shelves in front and back, and drawers on both ends holding equipment for dressing, breakfasting, and writing.

A trelliswork pattern enclosing rosettes, based on Japanese lacquerwork, embellishes the exterior of this multipurpose piece,which is further enriched with gilt-bronze mounts.

WOW, the thrill of looking into a mirror that has reflected the French Queen's face!

Here's a bed used by a French Duchess, then by the 10th Duke of Hamilton in Scotland, last by a former American actress

It's a Tester bed (lit à la duchesse en impériale) ca. 1782–83, French

As its full-size domed canopy is suspended from the ceiling rather than supported on posts, this tester bed is a type called lit à la duchesse en impériale.

Its original but now fragile hangings, woven in 1782–83 at the Beauvais tapestry manufactory have been replaced by modern silk damask, except for the lining of the interior dome.

French eighteenth-century beds tended to be high, as it was customary to pile them with three or more mattresses filled with straw, wool, horsehair, or feathers. “French beds are so high, that sometimes one is obliged to mount them by the help of steps.”

The custom of receiving visitors while reposing in a large and elegantly fitted out bed was practiced in France during the eighteenth century mostly by aristocratic women.

In 1791 the bed is documented as standing in the large bedchamber of Guyonne-Marguerite de Durfort de Lorge, duchesse de Choiseul-Praslin (1737–1806), at her Parisian home, the Hôtel de Belle Isle.

Following the turmoil of the Revolution and the political changes of the early nineteenth century, the bed was sold in Paris in 1830. It became part of the famous collections at Hamilton Palace, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the residence of Alexander Hamilton Douglas, tenth Duke of Hamilton (1767–1852), where it was placed in one of the state rooms.

The duke’s grandson sold the contents of the palace, including the bed, in 1882. The bed was acquired in 1897 by the financier and railroad executive George J. Gould (1864–1923). His wife, the former actress Edith M. Kingdon (1864–1921), used it in her bedroom of their New York town house.

Porcelain top...

This is a French royal bed from 1700.

Stories from Ovid are depicted in the medallions; the secondary scenes represent the fables of Ovid and la Fontaine.

In the valence above, Orpheus charms the wild beasts with his music, while to either side an episode from the fable of The Fox and the Stork unfolds. In the center of the left side, the fox receives his dinner guest, the stork, by serving a meal on a flat plate. In the center of the right side, the stork returns the invitation and trick, enjoying his supper from a long-neck bottle.

Small desk with folding top (bureau brisé) ca. 1685; Dutch

This desk and its pair were supplied in 1685 for use by Louis XIV in his study, or petit cabinet, in the north wing of the château de Versailles. This is a great specimen of Marquetry, the art of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The elaborate decoration on top includes the king's crowned monogram of interlaced L's beneath a radiant sun symbol engraved with a now indistinct Apollo mask.

The form is called a bureau brisé, literally a "broken desk," because the hinged front half of the flat top can be folded back, or "broken," to reveal a narrow writing surface.

Silver frame mirror on red damask covered wall...

This is a Cabinetca. 1640–50

The ripple moldings on the cabinet’s exterior bring out the lustrous quality of the severe black ebony. Other tropical veneers as well as inlays of mother-of-pearl, ivory and green-stained horn enliven the cabinet’s interior which encloses multiple drawers as well as a compartment with a mirror-lined "stage" for the display of a treasured artwork.

This cabinet is attributed to Herman Doomer, one of the few cabinetmakers working with ebony and mother-of-pearl in Amsterdam, the foremost European market for such exotic materials. Doomer gained fame through the portrait Rembrandt painted of him, also in the Museum's collection (see 29.100.1).

In 1688 the cabinet below was delivered for Louis XIV's apartment at the Château de Marly. Such armoires (closed cabinets or wardrobes) were ostentatious parade objects intended to stand grandly in a public room. In spite of its enormous size, the object is surprisingly easy to dismantle; it comes apart in twenty minutes.

The cabinet has unfortunately lost nearly all of its former engraved decoration. This type of wear may be due to the materials used. Tortoiseshell and wooden veneer are organic, as is the oak used to build the carcass. The inlaid metal has a totally different coefficient of expansion, and as a result the boulle marquetry is constantly "working." Already in the eighteenth century it was said that major parts of the surface would have to be restored "every generation" (roughly every twenty-five to thirty years), and each smoothing of the surface reduced the depth of the engraved decoration and the thickness of the veneers themselves

It has architectural bronze mounts and marquetry of copper and ebony with amaranth. Another great specimen of Marquetry with tortoiseshell and wood veneer.

The eight intricate corner mounts on the doors of the cabinet depict wind gods with flowing locks––six with a mature face and two with a young, beardless face-blowing a gale through pursed lips.The facade-like front, has brass on tortoiseshell (première partie) marquetry. The cabinet's top has concave sides and a rectangular base, lending the whole composition an almost pagoda-like look.

Below are Choir stall panels ca. 1723–26. Panel: oak veneered with walnut, boxwod, rosewood, ebony, maple, and other woods, ivory, green-stained horn, and pewter; figures: carved and painted lime wood.

After the secularization of the monastery in 1787 the choir stalls were sold to the cathedral in Trier. Marquetry panels with scenes of the lives of the Carthusians were replaced by non figurative marquetry panels, and the carved figures were added at that time. The choir stalls remained at Trier until 1890, when part of the paneling was sold following the restoration of the cathedral.

Chest of Drawersca. 1747, American

Both this high chest and its matching dressing table (10.125.68) are remarkably well preserved, with their tortoiseshell backgrounds—created by streaking lampblack onto a vermillion ground.

The painted decoration, which includes a dragon and winged swans pulling a chariot with a shell-shaped back, is noticeably different from that on the suite of japanned furniture owned by the Pickman family of Salem. note ivory handles...