Travel: Metropolitan Museum of Art
The front entrance of the Met on Fifth Avenue. Uploaded by ofness.com.
I have the same feeling with this entry that I have when I encounter The Met: I don’t know where to start. Visit New York, go to the Upper East Side, stay on Fifth Avenue as it hugs Central Park, then head up the steps at Fifth and 82nd Street. That’s when the options can overwhelm you.
You can view work from 22 different curatorial departments during your visit. A partial list, just to show you the amazing breadth of the collection, includes American Paintings and Sculpture, Musical Instruments, European Paintings, Egyptian Art, Modern Art, Musical Instruments, and Photographs.
Rembrandt, Self Portrait. Flickr photo, uploaded by jbparker.
Then consider which of the amazing works of art you’d like to see most. Paul Revere’s silver collection. “George Washington” by Gilbert Stuart. Babylonian and Assyrian art. Medieval armor. Chinese calligraphy. Drawings by Michelangelo. The Egyptian Temple of Dendur. Monet. Cezanne. Rembrandt. El Greco.Picasso.
Your visit can last as long as your attention span does. If you have the time, or another day, or if Medieval Art is your passion, you can visit The Cloisters, another Met-owned museum. It’s located in Fort Tryon Park way uptown.
The Met isn’t one of those “tourist” sites you can check off your list of places to see. It’s a destination that lures you each time you get to visit New York City. Take a video look at one of the few Met collections that, due it its fragility, does not have a permanent exhibit: The Costume Institute:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9o-941OBMQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1]