I never ended up sleeping over like I once said I would, but I most definitely should have. My visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art was penciled into my next months calendar as requiring a full weekend to explore; to have ample time to enjoy the numerous exhibitions and new installations in one of the world's largest art museums, but my visit came early when all of the radiators in the apartment chose to hibernate for the winter early Sunday morning, leaving me scrambling to take cover someplace warm.
Despite mid-teen temps earlier this month that gave me false hope in anticipating an early spring (I even started to dust off my sandals), a recent swoop of bitter, icy, wintry air, comparable to that of prairie cold (but without the snow), finally found its place on the east coast. The painful wind is enough to want to stay inside all the time, only venturing out when you absolutely have to. But when your apartment is itself an igloo and no degree of layering will cooperate to retain even an ounce of heat, where do you go? Yup, you guessed it, the Museum.
This holiday Monday I wandered The Met to stay warm, albeit aimlessly because I kept getting lost. With over two million works of art in its permanent collection, 19 curatorial departments, plus a handful of new Galleries featuring Oceanic Art and 19th- and Early 20th-Century European Paintings and Sculpture, it sure doesn't take much to lose your way!
One of the short-term exhibitions at the Museum which posed to be my favorite was The Costume Institute, which showcased fashionable dress and regional costumes from the late 16th century to the present. One other collection that was indeed a favorite of mine from my last visit in 2004, was the Hall of Musical Instruments. Rare violins, harpsichords, and the oldest extant piano in the world is on display here. But it looks like it will take another broke-down radiator for me to see that particular collection again, because I'm pretty sure museum renovations that have closed a number of wings for public viewing will be complete by the time the heat decides to shut off again in my building. Space heater anyone?
The facade of The Met
Renaissance parade armors
A beautiful harp on display in one of many European period rooms
The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, 1922 (Edgar Degas)
The Dance Class, 1874 (Edgar Degas)
Worthy of a sprained anke or two?
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