Let's get right to the paintings at the Met, beginning with a portrait of Arabella Worsham by Alexandre Cabanel. You can view her 1881 dressing room at The Met, too:
But enough of that. Back to the paintings. A Self-Portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn:
Sure, it's odd, but I loved this Laughing Fool by a Netherlandish Painter:
Allegory of the Catholic Faith by Johannes Vermeer:
I am a sucker for Vermeer. The abundance of detail is right up my alley:
Another Vermeer, titled A Maid Asleep:
Interior of the Oude Kerk, Delft, by Emanual de Witte:
When you zoom in, you see that old Emanual had a sense of humor:
A somewhat dark (in tone) painting that also had me transfixed, Dead Christ Supported by Angels by Francesco Trevisani:
And that barely scratches the surface of what one can enjoy at The Met!
For art lovers, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (aka "The Met") in New York City is a must-see. Besides an outstanding collection of art and culture, it is also a feast of architecture, both inside and outside.
How about the Charles Engelhard Court, located in The American Wing? Jaw-dropping.
Diana by Augustus Saint-Gardens:
Shall we get to the collections themselves? Yes! Plenty of Egyptian pieces (26,000 enough for you?) dating from 300,000 B.C.–A.D. 4th century.
This interior "outdoor" court is incredible. But at The Met, incredible is no surprise.
Wander inside and discover more untold treasures:
but beware the croc that guards the exterior!
If you're into stained glass, here’s Autumn Landscape, attributed to Agnes Northrop for Tiffany Studios?
Even the staircases are works of art:
You can view entire rooms from historic homes, such as this Frank Lloyd Wright room from Wayzata, Minnesota:
If Victorian is more your taste, you might prefer these rooms:
Come back for part 2!
More shots of The Met and its collections at my main website.
You may wonder what King Tut and the small world attraction at Disneyland have in common. I couldn't have told you until I read the latest issue of Vanity Fair, which has an article titled "The King of New York" by David Kamp. Back in 1976, the world was overtaken by King Tut fever, as priceless artifacts from the boy King's tomb were put on display for all to see.
The first photo here shows the Gold Mask of Tutankhamnun, 21.75" height, gold inlaid with opaque polychrome glass, lapis lazuli, green feldspar, carnelian, calcite and obsidian.
The first stop in the U.S. was The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which hosted the exhibit from November 17, 1976 — April 15, 1979, drawing more than eight million guests. In anticipation of the record crowds (and a fear of how to handle them), Richard Morsches, the Metropolitan Museum's VP of Operations, sent his staff to Disneyland to learn how The Mouse handled crowd control. From the article:
"Morsches called his Tut Ops people," says Stuart Silver, former design director at The Met. "I heard 'It's a Small World' so many times that I still can't bear to hear it."
The next photo shows a statuette of the Goddess Selket, 30.75" high, made of Gilded Wood:
It is only natural that a cultural phenomenon as big as King Tut would produce a few satires, with the biggest one being Steve Martin's jazzy musical tribute. I wore out my vinyl Steve Martin album as a kid, listening to the saxophone solo. Here's Martin performing the song in a vintage youtube clip; the sax solo is not quite as fab as the album version:
So that I don't disappoint small world fans, here are a few vintage shots from August 1967, barely a year after the attraction first opened at Disneyland:
