Hi everyone! This week I had an amazing opportunity to go see the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Almost everyone in my art history class with Dr. Irwin had the opportunity to go and I saw some really spectacular art and history. I highly recommend checking out this museum if you’re ever in the city. Even If you don’t have the opportunity to visit in person, the MET has an amazing website that goes into better detail than I could. My experience in the MET was incredible, the exhibits transported me to different places and times in history and I felt like a movie character using a time machine.
In my experience at the MET, I particularly loved two exhibitions that are staples of this museum, the Greek and Egyptian galleries.
Ancient Egypt
The Egyptian exhibit was by far the most immersive display of art history I had ever seen. When I walked through the halls of the exhibit, I couldn’t help but be taken away with the chiseled hieroglyphics. I know that the hands that created those messages were part of a long lost, but not forgotten society that lived in the desert in a time before air conditioning. In fact, they lived without most modern commodities including power tools. When you look at everything the Egyptians carved out of big stone slabs, you can see that they took time to carve everything, even their intricate writing system.
What stood out to me more than anything else among the incredible exhibition of Egyptian art was a large room containing the Temple of Dendur. This place above everything else took my breath away. These structures made me feel like I was in Ancient Egypt, coming to worship there or pass through in daily life. This temple is covered in detail, and it seeing it in person really is like living in a part of history.
Ancient Greece
The only exhibit that rivaled ancient Egypt was the crown jewel of my visit, the Greek and Roman exhibition. To those who know me, they know why this exhibit excited me so much. To those who still have yet to meet me, I am a very serious classics enthusiast. Ancient Greece and Rome are the places I would choose to live if I had a time machine. Needless to say, I was wearing a very large grin as I entered the gallery labeled “Greek and Roman Art”. To put it bluntly, I nerded out. I was thrilled to be among Grecian urns and other artifacts, but my joy was complete when I reached the room filled with greek statues.
One of my favorite statues, it is impossible for me to choose one, was of Perseus holding the severed head of Medusa. I will assume you, my audience, did not space out in 6th grade history and know about Perseus already. This is a bummer, because if you did, I would get to add an extra paragraph to my blog post enlightening you all. But yes, the statue was magnificent, beautiful, and so many other things that mean extraordinary. This statue captures the heroic figure at his highest point, his most notable victory. He stands like a savior and a hero. Perseus radiates the energy that keeps a person’s spirits up.
I know you probably are on your way to the MET right now because these exhibits are so awesome, but in case you aren’t sold already, there are lots and lots of other exhibits that are almost as cool. I seriously recommend checking out the rotating exhibits that are only in for a short period, and everything else the museum has to offer!
Featured image: The sculpture room