The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) is a large-scale museum located on the famous “Museum Mile” near Central Park West. Renowned for its valuable collections of ancient and modern art from around the world, circulating through the various exhibitions open at different times of the year, the Met is an institution entirely dedicated to the preservation of ancient art. With more than two million works in its possession, from Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania and the Americas, the Met has earned its place among the most visited art museums in the world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay The exterior of the museum is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, modeled on ancient Greco-Roman architecture based on the principles of Doric order, with imposing pillars, metopes, with reliefs of various deities carved in the marble. This style was likely chosen due to the Western obsession with returning to its roots in ancient Greco-Roman ideals, and the architectural designs are just a reflection of this. As an institution, the Met is funded entirely by donations, large and small, to continue operating and meeting the artistic tastes of the public. The interior of the museum is just as astonishing, particularly with the immensity of the space available and the monumental size of certain works of art, such as the sculptures. Such space is accompanied by the larger-than-life scale of these works of art and their dominant presence in the museum rooms. Even the decorum is impressive, with the rounded Roman arches leading from one corridor to the next; the geometric sculptures along the walls of the steps leading from one exhibit to the next. Organized according to cultural context, entry to the Met presents a notable divide between East and West, with exhibits on ancient Greece and Rome located on the left side of the museum, and Asian and Egyptian art old on the right side. This puts into context the division between cultures based on differences in artistic style, methodology and inspirations. Visitors are often led first to the gallery of ancient Greek and Roman art, then escorted to other areas in a clockwise direction. Walking through the gallery of ancient Greek and Roman art, you see the dedication. Much of the artwork found here includes painted vases, sculptures of various sizes, and tombstones that showed careful attention to detail in the sculptures, as well as epithets attached to each person if they enjoyed a high status. Statues of Greek and Roman gods proliferate throughout the exhibit, which is common as these deities were thought to have had a huge influence on the lives of the Greeks, but they were too human with their petty jealousy and desire for worship. the solid bronze statues of the Greeks and the marble replicas made by the Romans who followed. There were also statues of many demigods/heroes of Greek myth, due to their function as intermediaries between humans and the gods, as well as their accessibility to help the Greeks in times of need, such as during wars , the presence of Greek monsters. etc. Above the Roman art gallery are ceilings made entirely of glass, so that light can penetrate the building and shine on the statues, giving them an aura of timeless beauty and physical perfection of the human body. The structure of the building is inspired by the Roman architectural style, where light (symbolizing the divine presence) can enter a room and create the feeling that it is a "sacred space". To the northFrom the Greco-Roman section are the arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, incorporating all types of artwork, ranging from objects used for daily activities to ritual and ceremonial objects that had immense value for these cultures and their peoples, and had intrinsic aesthetic value to them as well. An eye-catching and popular piece of the exhibit was a gigantic statue of what is believed to be an African deity, hunched over and staring into the room. He was perhaps ten to twelve feet tall, his hands positioned so as to appear as if he were reaching into the distance. It most likely served as a substitute for a popular deity, a revered ancestor, etc. and was probably central to the culture's religious system. One of the characteristics of African art shared by the figures is their oval face and stoic expression, contributing to the serious air of the exhibition, a tribute to the merits of an entire civilization and to the different cultures that influenced the African art. . Alongside this, there were also African masks which had spiritual/religious significance to the people. Mini-figures were also admired in the exhibition and were used as fertility idols to promote impregnation, or as good luck charms to ward off bad (evil) energies. eye) among them. Even further up the museum, after the Greek/Roman and African, Oceanian and American arts, was the Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery, displaying works of art by prominent members of various schools of art. contemporary art, for example Henri Matisse, William de Kooning, Jackson Pollock etc. Abstract, yet concrete in their representations, the images in the exhibition are excellent pieces, depicting symbiotic and contradictory ideas in the same space and using a range of colors, textures, patterns, shadows and lights . darkness to shape the image and the symbolism confined within it. One of my favorite images in this exhibition was Untitled by Sigmar Polke, a gelatin silver print made in 1975, which mixes the dark colors with the background scene of the print, which appears to be cross-hatching and perhaps also an individual. The image purports to depict a group of men drinking at a bar in Paolo, Brazil, but due to intentional distortion of the image it is difficult to tell that there is anyone in the image . Pole experimented with images, using the technique of creasing and folding wet negatives. Other paintings, prints, etc. use similar and different methods to express their ideas and convey their meaning to the viewer. Opposite the ancient Greek and Roman gallery is that of the ancient Egyptians and their cultural artifacts, such as slabs and bands of hieroglyphs, carved into the walls of the exhibition. Although some rooms were narrow, they were still full with various sarcophagi; the ushabti, which were funerary figurines which played the role of servants of the pharaoh in the afterlife; and among the largest were statues of royal pharaohs and their dog-headed sacred guardians (modeled after the ancient Egyptian god Anubis). The lighting in these rooms was dim, adding to the haunting images of the statues, sitting or standing in absolute silence. The narrow rooms opened onto a vast space, where a pond was at the entrance and a large worship space stood at the rear, the Temple of Dendur, built during the Roman occupation of Egypt, and the only spectacle in the vast expanse. space. Inside the temple were depictions of the ancient Egyptian god Hapi, who was often personified asthe shape of a hippopotamus, as well as other carvings on the wall depicting dead kings making offerings to deities brandishing scepters and ankhs, the ancient Egyptian symbol of life. and a symbol that continues to be used to this day. The temple marked the end of the exhibit, and beyond was the gift shop. Located at the very top right of the Met are the American Art Galleries, exhibiting works of art based on and from America's beginnings, which include oil paintings, antique furniture and the like beginning in the late 1700s, when the United States was just beginning to gain independence from the British Empire, and ending in the early 20th century, with the Ash Can school. It includes the decor that is an integral part of the exhibition, with luxury silverware, crockery, etc. were a common characteristic of American nobility at the time and had both aesthetic and practical qualities. Most items from this era were similar, had everyday use, but were still fine works of art to be admired when not in use. One of my favorites is Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, painted in 1851 in oil on canvas, and shows George Washington and his men, carrying the American flag, and crossing the icy Delaware River, before his attack against the Hessians (German troops enlisted by the British). It presents him as a formidable leader and a courageous man ready to dedicate his life and that of his brothers in arms to fighting for independence, a man of true heroism and character. Traditionalism often underlies early American art and continues in later works that seek to emulate the old-fashioned nature of its predecessors. The same principle is applied to the handcrafting of furniture, e.g. bedding, tables, chairs, chandeliers, etc., as well as the attention to detail in construction, carving and furnishing of each of them. Domestic architecture was an essential part of the early American experience and a defining characteristic of that period. Some Native American pieces, such as the Raven Rattle, dating from the 19th century, tell the history of the people and their cultural heritage before the invasion of European settlers, as well as the spiritual practices of shamanism and faith healing that were used through these rattles during ceremonial songs and spiritual invocations. The rattle is adorned with bright red, blue, and black pigments for the most part, and is just one Native American tribe item, but gives us a glimpse of how these tribes operated before white settlers and a extremely rich culture whose beliefs can often be determined through their works of art and the objects they left behind. At the very center of the museum is the Medieval Art Gallery, showcasing art from the fall of Rome in the 4th century to the start of the Renaissance in the 16th century, with some pieces from pre-medieval Europe, from the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. The exhibition evokes a feeling of church, a certain holiness that emanates from the exhibition. This collection strives to show the religiously oriented artworks of the Middle Ages in Christianized Europe, inspired by biblical stories and the royalty who sponsored these works as patrons of the artists behind them. Sculptures, such as that of the Weeping Lady, emphasize the importance of Christianity, particularly Catholicism, in the cultural context of Europe at the time and influenced it to such an extent that the same impact would not have been had if this influence had been. not there. Perhaps one of the most notable pieces in the gallery is the relief with scene from the legend of the true.