accommodate public school students on Spring Recess.
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The main entrance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 83rd Street and Fifth Avenue |
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| Inside by the entrance |
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| cyclad |
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| bust |
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| mask |
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| amphora |
Balgley I might not be able to go, and you know you said that you could take pictures from there and write about them like that, but what I'm going to do, I believe they have great videos on you tube so I'm going to check it out there
ReplyDeleteThat's sad, but enjoy the virtual experience.
ReplyDeleteAww Brittany, that IS sad!
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ReplyDeleteMr Balgley, I have went to the museum!! It was so interesting! They had a whole floor based on Greek history. They even had statues of some of the gods and marble heads. They were also many amphora.We should go as a class, one day!
ReplyDeleteDuring my visit in the museum, I found many interesting objects. One object that I have found very appealing was the Terracotta kylix (drinking cup) It is the obverse and reverse, birth of Athena from the head of Zeus.
ReplyDeleteAthena, the patron goddess of Athens, had the distinction of being born fully formed and fully armed from the head of Zeus, the chief of the gods. Much favored during the first half of the sixth century B.C., scenes of this event include numerous and allow for various responses to unusual circumstances.
Here the birth has occurred, and Athena is about to sally forth from her father’s lap.
(I took a picture but I don't know how to post it on the blog, so I sent it to you instead)
I went to the MET today as well, and I loved it. I went early in the morning so there was barely anyone there and I was able to just walk around and relax and take pictures of a bunch interesting Greek artifacts, including bronze armor! I'm also thinking that I want to base my report on more than one object. I think there were many patterns to be observed in the entirety of the exhibition. And after seeing it all I kind of don't want to just focus on one single item.
ReplyDeleteThis building is amazing. I agree with Kenia, I think we should all go as a class. It would be a lot of fun. Everything they have in the museum is great.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I couldn't attend the MET, but I did some great research on the sculptures that the museum had online, and I found amazing pictures. One sculpture that caught my eye, and I think its one of my favorite sculptures ever, is the sculpture of Perseus holding the head of Medusa. I love how descriptive the sculpture is, you can even see the snakes as Medusa's hair. Perseus was known as a Geek hero who killed the Gorgon Medusa. Medusa was known to turn anyone to stone, with even a glance of her eyes. After she was beheaded by Perseus her head was given to Athena, to place it in her shield, the Aegis. Mr. Balgley I have some great pictures her, I'm going to give you the links.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ggnyc/751518039/
http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/european_sculpture_and_decorative_arts/head_of_medusa_antonio_canova/objectview.aspx?page=1811&sort=0&sortdir=asc&keyword=&fp=1&dd1=12&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=12&oID=120020492&vT=1&hi=0&ov=0
I really think you all should take a look at these pics, there amazing
I honestly saw some cool interesting sculptures while I was there. i had to force my cousin to come with me (which was a pain in the neck -___-). I always thought this museum was extremely boring, but as you read what each art work is about, you actually open your mind and get really interested and surprised at how amazing everything is. It is really admirable.
ReplyDeleteI found many really interesting things there today. It would have been nice had I seen some of you there to share with you what I discovered.
ReplyDeleteBalgley i would like to talk about one sculpture that i was so interested in. It amazed me as well. You actually have a picture of it above. The sculpture i would like to discuss with you is Marble seated harp player. I found this art work amazing because of when it was made and how I thought about the person or people that took their time to make this. I read that this stone sculpture was made in 2800–2700 B.C. and that it was one of the earliest of the small number of known representations of musicians. This was my favorite art I must say. It is just lovely. It must be worth ALOT of money...
ReplyDeleteIt is truly one of the Museum's treasures. Check out The Louvre Museum in Paris, France, to see other high quality sculptures made at the same time and by the same civilization as this one. I hope you looked at it from multiple perspectives. I took photos of it in profile and from behind. It looks amazing from whatever direction you look at it!
ReplyDeletethe building is amazing nd so is the art. going there really changes your persective on art.
ReplyDeleteI went there so many times, I can literally give people tours of the building.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think we had to post these on the blog but since Mr. Balgley asked me to I will. It is very long so I'm going to have to do this in several posts.
ReplyDeleteThe Struggle Between Herakles and Apollo for the Delphic Tripod
ReplyDeleteThe Terracotta column-Krater is a piece of Greek, Attic art from the fifth century B.C. It is a black-figure piece, which simply means that it is black pottery, and it is attributed to the Lykomedes painter. The main image that is depicted in this krater is that of Herakles (Hercules) and Apollo fighting over the Delphic Tripod, hence the title, “The struggle between Herakles and Apollo for the Delphic Tripod.” This was a very popular theme for black-figure artists between the beginning of the sixth century B.C. and the mid fifth century B.C. because it gave artists the opportunity to paint two males in motion and use a new technique called the red-figure technique.
In order to tell the story of this particular image it is necessary to know a brief history of the events leading to it. After defeating the Minyans at Orchomenos, King Creon gave his daughter, Megara, to Hercules as a bride. Hercules and Magara had about eight children (differs in different accounts). According to Euripides, after returning home from a journey, Hercules found Greece in Chaos and Creon dead at the hands of Lycus, whom was also about to murder his family. Hercules rushed to their rescue and killed Lycus before he could kill Magara and his children. However, Hera had a desire to make Hercules commit a crime which would require atonement. So she made him enter a state of insanity and rage in which he killed all of his children and his wife. After he awoke from his delusion he realized what a terrible thing he had done. So he traveled to Delphi where he consulted an oracle who instructed him to go to Tiryns and serve Eurystheus for twelve years.
Upon his arrival at Tiryns, Eurystheus charged Hercules with twelve, seemingly impossible, labors. The first was to defeat a lion that was terrorizing the town of Nemea. The second was to defeat a nine-headed hydra that terrorized the town of Lernea. The third was to bring Eurystheus the hind of Ceryneia, which was a female red deer with golden horns and bronze hoofs and the pet of Diana, the goddess of hunting. The Fourth task was to bring the Erymanthian Boar to Eurystheus alive. The fifth task was to clean the stables of king Augeas in one day, which meant cleaning up after thousands of cattle. The sixth labor was to drive away an enormous flock of birds from a town called Stymphalian. The seventh labor was to capture the Cretan bull alive and take it to Eurystheus. The eighth task was to capture the men-eating horses of Diomede and take them to Mycenea. The ninth task was to bring Eurystheus the belt of Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons. The tenth task was to travel to the end of the world in order to bring Eurystheus the cattle of the monster Geryon. The eleventh task was to get some of Zeu’s golden apples which were guarded by a hundred-headed dragon and nymphs. The twelfth and final task was to go to the underworld and capture Cerberus.
ReplyDeleteAfter completing the twelve labors Hercules traveled to Oechalia because he heard that prince Eurytus was offering his beautiful daughter, Iole, as a bride to any man who could defeat him and his sons in an archery contest. Hercules won the contest, but Eurytus refused to give his daughter to him for fear that she would suffer the same fate as Hercules’s pervious wife, Magara. So Hercules left Oechelia in dismay and sadness. Soon after he had left, however, some cattle were stolen from a local man and, believing that Hercules was the thief, Eurytus sent one of his sons to go after him. At first Hercules received Eurytus’s son Iphytus with hospitality and cheer, but out of a temporary insanity and rage he killed Iphytus. As a cause of his murder Hercules became sick, so he journeyed once again to Delphi to consult an oracle. But when the Pythian priestess was unable give him an oracle, Hercules decided to steal the Delphic tripod thinking that he would establish an oracle of his own. That is precisely when Apollo decided to intervene, and unwilling to let Hercules steal the prized object from his temple, wrestled him to the ground, which brings us to the image on the Krete. Zeus decided to break them apart by throwing a lightning bolt between the two brothers. After they were separated, Hercules finally received an oracle, which instructed him to serve as a slave for a year in order to make amends for Iphytus’s death and the tripod was left at Delphi.
As you can see in the image, Hercules is depicted as an equal to Apollo in both stature and build. If you look closely at the length of the legs, he seems even slightly taller than Apollo. This is, assuming that Hercules is the one holding the tripod and Apollo is the one with the bow and arrows. It might also seem strange that Hercules can fight as an equal with Apollo since Apollo is a god and Herakles is not. But this is probably due to the fact that Herakles and Apollo, as I mentioned in the story, are brothers. They are both sons of Zeus, but Herakles is only a demy-god because he is the son of a mortal women. If you compare them with the on-lookers that surround the rest of the Krate you can also see that they are wearing less clothing. This is a recurring theme in Greek art.
ReplyDeleteMen, specifically soldiers, are usually barer than women or those who are not soldiers. They mostly appear in only armor and sometimes just naked. This is a pattern that I observed throughout the entire Exhibition. Women are characterized with fabrics, robes, and drapery. They are usually much adorned and are always dressed. This I believe give the women a sort softness and plumpness that perhaps was desirable in ancient Greek civilizations. They also give a sort of mystery as to what their naked bodies look like. Men, in the other hand, are not usually depicted with clothes. They mostly wear armor which still exposes most of their bodies; muscles and even private parts. I think this is supposed to represent men’s strength, and the fact that most of them have athletic physics does seem idealistic but, it also shows how much the Greeks valued a man’s youth. Their nakedness also represents their shameless sexuality. I don’t believe that men back then deprived themselves of sexual desires for any reason and because sex is such a natural thing, almost an animal instinct, it has to be represented by something just as natural; a man’s naked body. The only time that I saw any mixing of the two distinct characteristics of a man’s image and a woman’s image, was in depictions of Athena. Athena does wear robes and draperies but she is largely characterized by her armor and shield. Now, the fact that female figures were worshiped as gods in such a patriarchal and masculine society is strange enough, but the fact that Athena was also seen as warrior and wasn’t depicted as a fragile, vain female but rather as a strong almost masculine female figure is even stranger. I think that these specific characteristics that the Greeks attributed to Athena were an attempt to desex what they thought to be one of the most powerful and influential gods in order to make it okay for man to worship her as they would Zeus or Apollo.
Brittany, the sculpture of Perseus holding the head of Medusa depicts a Greek hero, but it is neither a Greek nor an Ancient Greek work of art.
ReplyDeleteYenifer, your observations are very astute. The power intrinsic to wisdom, in The Odyssey,
ReplyDeleteis represented by two females, the mortal Arete and the goddess Athena. Arete is clearly dominant in her marriage. Her husband defers to her. She wears the pants in her kingdom, so to speak. Likewise Athena manages Zeus and the mortals she cares about. She is the shrewd champion and companion of heroic endeavor.