Metropolitan Museum Of Art Visit

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of my favorite museums in New York. With the diversity of cultural artifacts found in the Met, to the trusty little pins you wear on your collar, I have fallen in love with the Met ever since I was little. I have spent many summers at the Met when I was younger with their programs for studying different time periods of art and spent many hours there every day wondering about the history behind the exquisite antiquities. Visiting the Met again after many years of absence, made me remember the feeling of awe when I first step into the main hall of the Met. As much as I love the Met, however, the crowds of tourists and screaming children dampen my visit a little.

While reading the directory, my attention was grabbed by almost every wing -- from Jackson Pollock's abstract paintings, Ancient Egyptian mummies and tombs, to the art of the Impressionists. However, I had to save those for another rainy day. I had to direct my attention to the Middle (Dark) Ages. At first I was slightly lost having not read Dante's Inferno yet, but as I walked around and studied the art of the Middle Ages, as well as the sculptures and other artifacts, I was starting to gather more understanding for their cultural identities. All of the arts found during this time were, quite clearly, revolved around Christianity. I saw dozens of crucifixes and countless images of saints. Here are some pieces of art that caught my eye.

This is the "Mishneh Torah," a code of Jewish law by subject matter, also know as the Book of Divine Service. This reminded me of Dante's levels of hell and how the punishment is contrapasso and is sorted by the sins commited -- similar to the Jewish code of law shown here.

This painting is called "The Crucification: The Last Judgment," by Jan Van Eyck. These pictures are a juxtaposition of the Last Judgment and Christ's sacrifice for mankind (according to the Met description). I found this extremely relevant to Dante's inferno because it depicts the three tiers of life, death and life after death.

This painting is also called "The Last Judgment," by Joos Van Cleve, which seems to be a recurring theme for art during the Middle Ages. The idea is that when Christ holds his own judgment, those who did not believe or those who have sinned will not be saved by him. That's an interesting thought to relate to the Inferno for those who are in the first level of hell -- those who were lost souls seems to be where many of these are headed if they do not receive salvation from Christ.

Lastly, this is called a Katchkar, which is a stone cross frequently placed to serve as memorials for the dead during the Middle Ages. I thought it was extremely interesting because the cross is resting on the heads of saints and evangelists who are the authors of the Gospels. It seems to be very much a reflection on Christianity through the importance of life after death.

Even thought the Dark Ages is not necessarily the first wing you would want to stop at on your visit to the Met, I highly recommend browsing their art and artifacts. It's extremely intriguing to see how religion played such a large role on their culture historically. Although seeing embalmed pharaohs are never dull, the subtle grace and beauty of the Medieval Wing surely will not disappoint. The context of these arts can only benefit us in our search to understand literature, history and cultural diversity. So perhaps on our next visit to the Met, we can learn a little more about each wing and the intricate web of history that ties the entire museum together will lead us to enlightenment.

--Demi Chang