13 Hidden Gems at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Inline
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art1/13Terracotta Krater, Attributed to the Hirschfeld Workshop, ca. 750–735 B.C.
This krater is perhaps the best example of the Geometric style of Greek vase painting, which dates back to the Archaic period. Pieces such as this were the precursors to the dichromatic figurative style more widely recognized now.
Location: Gallery 150
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art2/13Human-Headed Winged Bull and Winged Lion (Lamassu), ca. 883–859 B.C.
Lamassus were winged mythical creatures that served as protectorates in Assyrian culture. Significant yet often difficult for art aficionados to see today, this lamassu came from what is now modern-day Iraq.
Location: Gallery 401
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art3/13View From Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, Thomas Cole, 1836
One of the masterpieces of American landscape painting, Cole marries concepts of the sublime and the picturesque—both highly popular in his day and age.
Location: Gallery 759
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art4/13Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825–1860), Princesse de Broglie, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1851–53
The sumptuous depiction of fabric is just one of many reasons why this Neoclassic painting is considered to be one of Ingres’s greatest portraits.
Location: European Painting Galleries
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art5/13Cubiculum (Bedroom) From the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale, ca. 50–40 B.C.
A bedroom from the Late Republic that was preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius and reinstalled at the Met. It exemplifies the second style of Roman painting, which traditionally consists of a composite of architectural elements.
Location: Gallery 165
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art6/13Juan de Pareja (born about 1610, died 1670), Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, 1650
Velázquez’s painting of his slave De Pareja is one of his most well-known works. De Pareja was an artist himself and was freed by the painter in 1654.
Location: Gallery 610
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art7/13Garden Landscape, Louis Comfort Tiffany, ca. 1905–15
The Met may be known for its collectsion of Tiffany antiques, but this fountain mosaic, inspired by Byzantine art, stands out as an especially glittering gem.
Location: Gallery 700
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art8/13Bedroom From the Sagredo Palace, ca. 1718
An excellent example of Venetian craftsmanship from this period, this bedroom will transport you to another time and place.
Location: Gallery 507
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art9/13Mihrab (Prayer Niche), A.H. 755/A.D. 1354–55
This mihrab, from what is now present-day Iran, is perhaps the crown jewel in the Met’s awe-inspiring Islamic wing—which was remodeled in 2011 to great acclaim.
Location: Gallery 455
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art10/13Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles, John Vanderlyn, 1818–19
In the 1800s, panoramas were a wildly popular form of art, and a primary mean for people to see other parts of the world. This example, which depicts the Gardens of Versailles, was made in New York City.
Location: Gallery 735
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art11/13Living Room From the Francis W. Little House, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1912–15
A chance to see and be enveloped by Wright’s organic architecture and design.
Location: Gallery 745
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art12/13Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, 1905-06
Picasso’s portrait of his patron, the great literary writer Stein, came at the end of his relatively brief Rose Period and reflected his then-burgeoning interest in Iberian sculpture.
Location: Gallery 911
Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art13/13Wheat Field With Cypresses, Vincent van Gogh, 1889
An example of Van Gogh’s focus on cypress trees in Saint-Rémy, this piece was one of the artist’s favorite summer landscapes.
Location: Gallery 823
