I am in New York for a few days as the guest of a member of the Constantian Order of St George for their investiture, to see an opera, and have some R&R in the galleries of the Met. I’ll have some Masses too.
The Met, by the way, has changed its logo, etc. I don’t like it. First, they got rid of the metal pins, the thieves, and went to adhesive tags. Now this.
I carry little blank books to make lots of notes and sketches. One of you readers sent the one I am using now. They were in my wish list. Thanks.
Here is a lovely Ancient Greek Attic red-figure wine-chiller called a psykter. It is sort of mushroom shaped. It is a great example of function defining form with balanced decorations.
It was designed to bob about in a larger wide open vessel of cold water.
It dates to about 520 BC.
As it moved the dolphins would seem to swim. Nifty.
Also going on now is an Exhibit of the French portrait painter Elizabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun who was active for about 50 years and died in 1842. She was a favorite of the court, especially the unpopular Marie Antoinette and she had to flee when the terror of the Revolution started. She worked in Rome, Naples, Vienna and St Petersburg. I have to admit that she’s got game, even though she was mainly limited to portraits, mostly – but not exclusively – of women. She must have had a knack for keeping her sitters engaged and entertained. They never look stiff or uncomfortable.
Here is a pastel self portrait in traveling clothes she made when she fled Paris in a harrowing coach ride with. according to her memoirs, a evil-smelling criminal who described having killed people she happened to know. She doesn’t look much at peace.
Also, to make up for the lack of The Feeder Feed, have some birds… from 18th c. Germany.
The hoopoe is quite elegant.
The song comes tomorrow in the form of Donizetti.
Lunch yesterday: Chinese – some spicy lamb and cumin.
Lunch today: hot dogs with mustard and kraut from the cart in front of the Met.
Oops photo didn’t save. Well, you know what these look like. Maybe I’ll get another on the way out. It’s a good cause because the cart supports a wounded Marine.
I’m always sad when I have to leave the Met. Almost as sad as this little 15th c. alabaster Catalan guy.
UPDATE:
Having abandoned my comfy black BDU for the black suit, vest, links and dressier shoes, I was out for my next round of obligations.
After singing a Missa Cantata using the Votive Mass for Jesus the High and Eternal Priest, I went to my event. It was nice to have had the “High Mass”, since Card. McCarrick was at the other Mass… if you get my drift.
My host and I eventually left the reception and headed for a late supper. Along the way…
Now, as I ready myself for Morpheus, my dogs are seriously barking. I went from these, to these. The one pair, with Foxfire socks, I can wear and walk in all day, every day, stand in museums, trudge and dash as I need. They don’t slip on slick or oily surfaces. I’ve broken ankles doing stuff, so the one pair is really helpful. These others… whew.
I haven’t often wanted custom made shoes, but today?…. damn.
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There’s nothing like a New York hot dog from a street vendor!
Yikes as to that new Met logo. The powers that be seem to have a crush on the 1970s not only in terms of policies, but in graphic design as well. Phooey.
The geometry teacher in me loves the new design… circles and calligraphy! :)
Fr, head over to Sammy’s Noodles for some Peking Duck. 6th Ave not too far from St Josephs.
Ever been to the Cloisters?
[Many times.]
The logo could surely be better. Gosh.
Those little birds, lovely!
Fr Z: I get the logo disappointment, though I am no expert on art and design.
So, to follow up out of curiosity on that question…
Gregg the Obscure: Can my seeing the Vitruvian Man minus the man bear on your suggestion about the ’70s?
Re: The Cloisters. I had to see that museum when I was visiting the City. Being as ignorant about basically everything as I was, I took a taxi… From, like, Battery Park…. At the end, covered in sweat from watching the meter, I realized I could have rented a car for less.
New Metropolitan Museum Logo Draws Harsh Reviews:
One critic called the new stacked red logo a ‘graphic misfire’
When going from Battery to Cloisters, take the 1!train and change for the bus at 168th. It will take you right to the door.
Just wondering, where did you get the Chinese?
Darn, missed you in NYC. Was in Manhattan yesterday and Weds., even managed to stop at St. Patrick’s a couple times at noon to hear Mass. Would have been nice to cross paths.
Your aversion to the clerical suit pants and “dressier” shoes I find quite amusing; all in a day’s work in NYC.
[Who said I had an aversion to them? I observed that those shoes made my feet hurt. That’s amusing?]
Susan G, I think the circles and calligraphy is still the old logo, albeit on a sticker…the new one is the red lettering “The Met.”
Oh! I rescind my earlier comment now that Charles E Flynn and introibo have clarified things, but I made no mistake because everyone said “logo” and the damn thing’s not a logo!
In fact, a “thing” is what it is, in more than one sense of the word.
Encouraged by your account, I find transcribed at Project Gutenberg and scanned at Internet Archive, Lionel Strachey’s “slightly abridged” translation of Memoirs of Madame Vigée Lebrun, and, also at the latter, scans of a biography with a Catalogue Raisonné, by W.H. Helm.
Was your opera Don Pasquale, at ‘the other Met’? And, how was it? (And what do (canon) lawyers think of its plot?)