Last Tuesday, we unlocked the doors of the Musical Instruments galleries, which had been closed for an eight-month hiatus while roof work was performed on the American Wing side of our galleries. During that time we refreshed the appearance of the European instrument gallery. A new paint job, better internal case lighting, reframed case doors, and a redefined arrangement of the display now offers our visitors an enhanced experience of the instruments. Associate Curator Herbert Heyde has selected approximately 350 European instruments for display, about a quarter of which are on public view for the first time. After being closed for more than three years, the reopening of the American Wing doors once again allows access to our galleries from three areas of the Museum. New audio examples of the collection’s instruments are being created for the Audio Guide, which will bring the number of audio stops to about one hundred. This Saturday, March 13, to celebrate our reinstallation, we have collaborated with the department of Concerts & Lectures and Frederick Renz, director of Early Music New York to present the all-day event Early Music Exposed. The program will feature performances of some of the country’s best early music and dance organizations, including performances on instruments from the collection. Jayson Dobney, associate curator and administrator in the department, several volunteers, and I will offer special tours throughout the day.

Read More...

Allegorical Scene of Justice Liberating Innocence (modello for tapestry), ca. 1545-46, by Agnolo Bronzino. Pen and dark brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white gouache, over extensive black chalk underdrawing, on blue-gray paper, squared in black chalk, and framing outline at top border. Biblioteca Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan (F 261 inf. no. 65, fol. 61)

A major work by the great Florentine artist Agnolo Bronzino (1503-1572) has just been installed in the landmark exhibition now in progress, The Drawings of Bronzino (on view through April 18).  This rare drawing of an Allegorical Scene of Justice Liberating Innocence is an unprecedented loan made possible by the Prefect and the Collegio dei Dottori of the Biblioteca Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, thanks to the generous support of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Milan. The exhibition, which is the first ever dedicated to Bronzino, now presents all the known drawings by him.

The precious drawing is among the most historically important by Bronzino, and is exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum for the first time since its long-awaited, recently completed conservation, in an especially constructed state-of-the-art display case, with micro climate, confirming the excellent conservation standards of the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana. It is executed in an exquisitely pictorial technique and dates from ca. 1545-46. It was a scaled preparatory design for a tapestry commissioned by Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, and which was woven in Florence by Jan Rost and his workshop. The Biblioteca Pinacoteca Ambrosiana’s drawing is part of the famous Codex Resta, a monumental album of drawings which was compiled before 1706 by the great Milanese collector Sebastiano Resta. The Codex Resta is part of the drawings collection of the Ambrosiana. 

Above, from left to right: Ik-joong Kang (American, b. Korea, 1960) 25 Wishes, 2007–2008. Tempera, Polymer Compound on Wood; each panel 23 in. x 23 in. Lent by the artist. Moon Jar, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), 2nd half of 18th century. Porcelain. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975 (1979.413.1).

When I first saw 25 Wishes (above, left) in the Chelsea studio of the artist Ik-joong Kang nearly a year ago, my first thought was how wonderful it would look in the Met's Korean gallery. I was very taken by the piece's subtle, alluring palette and dreamy quality. It was a surprising departure from most of Ik-joong Kang’s other works, which burst with splashy color. The work filled the whole wall on which it was displayed, in a small room within Kang’s studio, and reflected light coming from the floor-to-ceiling window it faced. So even though the piece is quite large, the viewing experience was intimate and inviting. But powerful. I wanted to recreate a bit of that feeling in the installation in our Arts of Korea Gallery.

Read More...

Violincello “Batta-Piatigorsky,” 1714. Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737). Spruce, maple, ebony. Cremona, Italy. Private Collection.

After an eight-month hiatus, The André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments reopen today.  They feature a refreshed and reinstalled presentation of the Museum’s renowned collection of Western musical instruments that showcases more than 230 works. The new display includes a wide range of objects—keyboard, string, percussion, woodwind, and brass instruments—and focuses attention on individual masterworks by exploring each within its musical and cultural contexts, by offering exciting comparisons of how different makers realized the same concept, and by providing examples of the development of various instruments. A highlight is the famed “Batta-Piatigorsky” 'cello made in Cremona, Italy, by Antonio Stradivari. Built in 1714, the instrument—which was owned by the distinguished cellists Alexandre Batta and Gregor Piatigorsky, and is now on loan to the Met from a private collection—is regarded as one of the best examples of the legendary maker’s work.

Read More...

The substantial collection of Khmer art at the Met comprises pre-Angkor and Angkor freestanding sculptures and architectural elements from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam (see examples). Like the works gathered in Phnom Penh at the National Museum of Cambodia and in Paris at the Musée Guimet, these works illustrate the birth and evolution of the different Khmer styles and record changes in the sculptural artistic medium through time and across geographical areas (see map and timeline).

Read More...

When I’m not teaching adults or students in the galleries of the Museum, I develop, plan, and oversee workshops for K–12 teachers designed to introduce educators (and, thus, their students) to great works of art through object-based learning, interdisciplinary integration, and inquiry. At the conclusion of these programs, my colleagues and I encourage teachers to pursue further study and contemplation of works of art, directing participants to different areas of www.metmuseum.org for additional research. While the Museum's online resources for teachers are extensive—including the Collection Database, Publications for Educators, the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, and multimedia features—a few years ago we wondered if there might be more immersive and effective ways to introduce teachers to these resources. How could additional tools—blogs, wikis, threaded discussions, and real-time online interaction—help introduce teachers to the Museum’s collections?

Read More...

A rare, recently excavated ancient Roman dining set consisting of 20 silver objects—one of only three such sets from the region of Pompeii known to exist in the world—and an important ancient Greek kylix (or drinking cup) have been installed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Galleries for Greek and Roman Art as part of an ongoing exchange of antiquities between the Republic of Italy and the Museum.

Read the press release

Left: The Moregine Silver Treasure. Roman, Late Republican and Early Imperial, ca. 40 B.C.-A.D. 79. From Moregine, near Pompeii. Lent by the Republic of Italy, 2010 (L.2010.3.1-.20)

Right: Terracotta kylix (drinking cup). Greek, Laconian, ca. 575-560 B.C. Attributed to the Boreads Painter. From Cerveteri, Banditaccia cemetery, tomb 1, inv. 106335. Interior, Boreads pursuing harpies, with a sphinx below. Lent by the Republic of Italy, 2010 (L.2010.2)