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The Met's Medieval Sculpture Hall
Photos by New York Scugnizzo |
After Mass on Advent Sunday, members of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (Brothers of the Holy Faith) took a quasi-retreat to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1000 Fifth Ave.) in Manhattan to see the highly anticipated Last Knight exhibit (Gallery 899) and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche in the Medieval Sculpture Hall (305). Ages since our last visit, we also took the opportunity to peruse the Renaissance of Etching exhibit (691-693), the Rodin and European Painting Gallery (800), the Drawing and Prints Gallery (690), and the Arms and Armor Court (371).
Our visit began in the Medieval Sculpture Hall on the first floor where the museum’s annual Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche were on display. Set in front of the eighteenth-century Spanish Choir screen, the towering blue spruce is decorated with an array of traditional presepi pieces created by some of Naples’ finest sculptors, including Salvatore di Franco (active 18th century) and Giuseppe Sanmartino (1720-1793). Evoking a church interior, the subdued gallery is also loaded with medieval sculptures and tapestries from Northern Europe dating from 1300 to 1500.
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| (L) St. Mary Magdalene, French, Champagne, Troyes, ca. 1500-1525. (R) St. Nicholas with the Three Boys in the Pickling Tub, South Netherlandish, ca. 1500 |
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(L) St. Catherine of Alexandria, German, lower Rhine valley, ca. 1530.
(R) St. Martin of Tours, German, Swabia, 1475-1525 |
Passing through the European Sculptures and Decorative Arts galleries, we moved on to the nearby Arms and Armor Court. Greatly impressed by the museum’s vast collection of armor and weapons, the hall was a nice prelude to the Last Knight exhibit upstairs.
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| (L) Burgonet with Buffe, Italian, ca. 1555-60. (R) Equestrian knights in full plate |
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| Suits of medieval plate armor on display in the Arms and Armor Court |
Ascending the great marble staircase, we fortuitously stumbled upon the Renaissance of Etching exhibit along the way. Featuring the prints of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Parmigianino (1503-1540) and others, we jumped at the chance to view the work of some of the medium’s most famed artists and took a short detour through the galleries.
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Death and the Devil Surprising Two Women, ca. 1510-15,
Etching by Daniel Hopfer (German, 1471-1536) |
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| Landscape with a Cannon, 1518, Etching by Albrecht Dürer |
Marking the quincentenary of the Emperor’s death, The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I provides an extraordinary opportunity to delve into this remarkable ruler’s life and times and consider his vast artistic legacy. Boasting some 180 artifacts from institutional and private collections, the exhibition explores Kaiser Maximilian’s (1459-1519) passion for armor, statecraft, knightly valor and chivalry. Highlights include the Emperor’s field armor, a pair of his gauntlets, and a portrait of Maximilian I in Imperial Regalia by Bernhard Strigel (1460-1528). A must see, the exhibit runs through January 5, 2020.
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Bard Presented by Maximilian I to Henry VIII,
ca. 1505, wrought by Guillem Margot |
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Armet, Austrian (Innsbruck), ca. 1515-20,
attributed to Hans Seusenhofer (1470/71-1555) |
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Eight reliefs from the Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl),
ca. 1496/97-1500, design attributed to Jörg Kölderer |
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(L) Maximilian I in Imperial Regalia by Bernhard Strigel.
(R) Death Portrait of Maximilian I, South German or Austrian, after 1519 |
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| (L) Bianca Maria Sforza, Italian, probably 1493, by Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis. (R) Maximilian I, Italian, 1502, by Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis |
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(L) Charles V in Armor and Holding a Sword, South German, ca. 1515.
(R) Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Netherlandish, ca. 1500 |
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| Pair of Gauntlets of Maximilian I, South German (Augsburg), ca. 1490 |
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| (L) Maximillian I in the Guise of St. George, South German (Augsburg), ca. 1509/10 by Daniel Hopfer. (R) Maximilian I on Horseback, South German (Augsburg) and Netherlandish, dated 1508, printed 1518 |
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Emperor Maximilian I from the Catalogue of the
Armory of Heroes, Austrian (Innsbruck), 1603 |
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| (L) Medal of Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian I, Netherlandish, probably 1477-80, by Giovanni Filangieri Candida (ca. 1445/50-ca. 1498/9?). (R) St. Maurice, German, ca. 1520-25, by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) and workshop |
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| (L) Foot Combat Armor of Maximilian I by Francesco da Merate, Italian, active 1480-96. (R) Papal Presentation Sword, Italian, ca. 1510 and later |
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| (L) St. George and the Dragon, ca. 1460-70, South German, possibly Swabian. (R) King Arthur, ca. 1891, Austrian, by Heinrich Fuss (1845-1913) |
Meandering through the neighboring Rodin and European Painting Gallery, the aptly named hall is teeming with bronze, marble, and terracotta figures by the great French sculptor, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). Accompanying the sculptures are an incredible selection of paintings dating from Rodin’s lifetime. Among my favorites are Pygmalion and Galatea (ca. 1890) by Jean-Léon Gérôme and Joan of Arc (1879) by Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884). My actual favorite painting from the hall, Graziella (1878) by Jules-Joseph Lefebvre (1836-1911), was not on view.
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| Joan of Arc, 1878, French, Damvillers, by Jules Bastien-Lepage |
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| (L) St. John the Baptist, modeled ca. 1878, cast ca. 1888, Auguste Rodin. (R) Marie Antoinette in a Park, ca. 1780-81, by Elizabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun |
Finally, before leaving we briefly stopped to admire a beautiful chalk rendering of Marie Antoinette in a Park (ca. 1780-81) by the celebrated French portraitist Elizabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) in the Drawing and Prints Gallery.
~ Giovanni di Napoli, December 3, Feast of St. Francis Xavier
