The Metropolitan Museum of Art is unique in its intersection of art and history. Beside some of the world’s most famous paintings, you’ll find artifacts galore. From fashion and films to antique furniture and Egyptian temples, there really are few things you won’t find hidden within the walls of The Met. Rounded up below are our top seven must-see exhibits at The Met. Make sure you stop by and see them all.
Best of The Met: The Temple of Dendur
Image: Shinya Suzuki/Flickr
You don’t have to fly to west of the Nile to check out an Egyptian temple these days… you only need to set foot into The Met. The Temple of Dendur was given to the U.S. in 1965 and later awarded to The Met in 1967. Made from Aolian sandstone, this temple was originally completed in 10 B.C., and it remains one of the museum’s most grandiose exhibits on display to date.
Best of The Met: Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio
Commissioned by Federico da Montefeltro around 1476, Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio is one of the most iconic works from the Italian Renaissance period in America. Representing a space for intellectual pursuits and the receiving of special visitors, this study was made with thousands of small pieces of wood to create paneling, doors, and furniture images.
Best of The Met: The Medieval Court
Head to the center of the museum to find The Medieval Court, which served as the original freestanding building when the The Met was commissioned in the 1880s. Designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, this wing takes on a cathedral aesthetic, decorated by an 18th century Spanish choir screen. Added bonus? If it’s the Christmas season you can find an enormous tree set up on display here.
Best of The Met: Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles
Image: raphaelstrada/Flickr
Transport yourself to France by taking in the Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles work, painted between 1818 and 1819 by John Vanderlyn from sketches he had made at Versailles in 1814. This enormous work of art expands 165 feet wide and stands at 12 feet tall. Even more impressively, this work is an oil on canvas production.
Best of The Met: Masterworks: Unpacking Fashion
Left: Ensemble, Raf Simons (Belgian, born 1968) for House of Dior (French, founded 1947), autumn/winter 2014-15 haute couture; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Christian Dior Couture, in honor of Harold Koda, 2016 (2016.256) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, by Anna-Marie Kellen Right: Ensemble, John Galliano (British, born Gibraltar, 1960) for Maison Margiela (French, founded 1988), spring/summer 2015; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Friends of the Costume Institute Gifts, 2015 (2015.541) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, by Anna-Marie Kellen
You can always count on the Anna Wintour Costume Center to have something eye-catching happening in its corridors, and from November 18th, 2016 to February 5th, 2017, it’s the Masterworks: Unpacking Fashion exhibit. Showcasing approximately 60 of the museum’s masterworks dating from the early 18th century to present day, any and all fashion lovers will get a kick out of this much anticipated exhibition.
Best of The Met: Living Room from the Francis W. Little House
Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture is known all over the world, and a little piece of it can be found inside of The Met. Living Room from the Francis W. Little House was originally designed for the Frances W. Little’s Minnesota summer residence. The room has come to be known as a prime example of “organic architecture” and spacial continuity.
Best of The Met: The Death of Socrates
Image: Rodney/Flickr
Painted in 1787, Jacques Louis David’s The Death of Socrates is one of the most studied paintings of its time. Stoically themed, The Met itself refers to this work of art as being “perhaps David’s most perfect Neoclassical statement”, which is saying quite a bit. This work is an oil on canvas painting and measures a whopping 51 inches tall and nearly 78 inches wide.
For more information on the Metropolitan Museum of Art, visit metmuseum.org.
