Fra Filippo Lippi, (detail) mid 15th century Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement |
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has always been one of my favorite places in NYC. In fact, if for some reason I'm having an off day - I will say to myself "When in doubt, go to the Met!" This enormous museum never fails to delight & astonish me, take me out of my own head space and drop me off at the doorway to the world. I have been there countless times and still manage to find something I've never seen before. Literally, you can travel the globe in one day, that is if you have comfortable shoes and say, 6 hours :). Yesterday my visit took me to Egypt, China, England, Spain, Byzantium, Italy, Greece, France, Germany & America. It was probably many more countries than that - but those were ones that I focused on with the exhibits that I saw and museum wings that I walked through.
I started my journey in ancient Egypt where I wanted to see the beautiful jewelry of the Egyptian princess, Sithathoryunet. I first learned of the princess when I was at an all-day, ASJRA jewelry conference last fall and listened to a great talk by Egyptologist Rita Freed of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. I then, later, gave a short presentation on the princess and her jewelry to my colleagues at work. Needless to say, I was looking forward to seeing these pieces in person.
There are quite a few pieces of hers at the Met - here is her stunning pectoral pendant.
Pectoral pendant belonging to Sithathoryunet - Egyptian, 12th Dynasty |
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1851-1853Joséphine-Eléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassacede Béarn, princesse de Broglie Photo - Met Museum |
She wears a mix of styles (not uncommon in that period) with a stack of rings on one finger, including a coiled snake, a loosely worn wrapped necklace of pearls with diamond clasp, on her wrist - a gold and diamond bracelet on the other wrist, pearl fringe earrings and to top it all off, a a bulla necklace, of the archeological revival style (possibly by the great Castellani). I love the cavalier nature of it all!
Byzantine Gold Necklace with Cross |
Pair of Jeweled Byzantine Bracelets - gold, silver, pearls, sapphires amethysts, quartz & emerald plasma - 500-700 AD |
Necklace with gold marriage medallion and hematite amulet and bracelet with bust of Roma - Byzantine |
Byzantine Disc Brooches, set with gems & pearls - originally used to fasten parts of a garment together 600 - 725AD |
Pretty stellar stuff with a room full of ball gowns from the 40's & 50's, each one on its own circular island, with a state of the art digital display set into the island with images of the dress being de-constructed, showing the architectural nature of how his gowns were made. Also information on historical styles and trends that James incorporated in his designs. The exhibit was split into two spaces, one on the main floor and the other in the newly renovated Costume Institute on the lower level of the museum. Here they had some of his earlier dresses from the late 1930's, which were my favorites, and other garments such as cocktail dresses and magnificent coats. All in all, a really fascinating, learning exhibit with great quotes by the designer printed on the glass walls. Loved it!
"Forget all you know and learn something new everyday" -Charles James
Charles James - Butterfly Ball Gown, 1955 Photo - Met Museum |
Charles James - Evening Dress, 1948 Photo - Met Museum |
Charles James - Ball Gowns, 1948 / Photograph by Cecil Beaton Photo - Met Museum |
"I have sometimes spent twelve hours working on one seam; utterly entranced and not hungry or tired till finally it had as if of its own will found the precise place where it should be placed."
-Charles James
Last but not least, by any means, I wended my way to the Medieval European art gallery. Pretty exhausted by this time but knew my visit wouldn't be complete without seeing a couple of amazing portraits - ones that I'm very familiar with.
Hans Memling Portrait of Maria Portinari, 1470 |
Detail of Memling painting above |