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| Marble statue of a woman, Greek, 4th century BC, with our wonderful guide. |
Recently DH and I caught a tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Titled Fashion in Art with Special Exhibit: The Sandy Schreier Collection, this 1 1/2-hour tour, led by a terrific guide whose name I didn't catch, sadly, took us all over the museum. We time-travelled, too, from ancient Egypt to Second Empire France.
Item #1 - Marble statue of a woman. Location: Great Hall
Our first stop was a statue with draped and pleated clothing depicted marvelously in stone.
Her robe, or chiton, represents finely pleated linen. In ancient Greece such fine pleats were created by dipping the fabric into vegetable-based starch, folding the wet fabric around a pole and then drying the assembly in the sun.
Around her body, and draped over her left arm, she wears a himation, like a cloak, made of wool and hence less finely pleated or folded than the thin linen.
A cord tied under her bosom gives an elegant silhouette to her outfit and holds everything in place.
The goddess Artemis is sometimes shown with a cord like this, but our guide said this is more likely Themis, goddess of custom and law.
Item #2 - Bust of Alexander Menshikov. Location: Gallery 551
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| Alexander Menshikov, unknown artist, c. 1704. |
Alexander Menshikov rose from humble beginnings to become a military leader and advisor to Peter the Great. At the time, Tsar Peter was heavily influenced by the culture of the French court under Louis XIV. French courtiers were clean-shaven and wore wigs, following the example of the balding Louis, so Peter wanted Russian nobles to abandon their traditional facial hair and emulate the French. Those who did not were fined. Alexander's armor serves only a decorative purpose, and is illustrated with scenes from the life of another famous Alexander, Alexander the Great. The frothy jabot at his neck is a fore-runner of the modern necktie and adds to the sense of motion imparted by the slight turn of the head. Clearly a successful military man, he also exhibits the status conferred by courtly dress. Fun fact - according to our guide, these huge wigs are the origin of the phrase "Big Wig".
Item #3 - Toilet Set in Original Leather Case. Location: Gallery 551
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| Toilet Set in Original Leather Case, Germany, c. 1743 - 45. |
We had a brief stop at this elaborate dressing table set up. Members of the nobility got dressed and ready for their day with others in attendance as part of court ritual. Note the pair of tea cups - milady could share her tea or chocolate.
Item #4 - Condesa de Altamira and her daughter, Maria Agustina. Location: Gallery 958
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| Condesa de Altamira and her daughter Maria Agustina, Goya, 1787-88. |
The Condesa has a fashionably teased hairstyle called "hedgehog". She also wears a fine fichu around her shoulders and tucked modestly into her bodice. Her excellent posture and nipped waist are courtesy of a corset. Her skirt is shaped by a hoop. Lace and embroidered silk establish her status and her young child wears lace too. In 2014 the Met was able to present a sort of family reunion, displaying all four of the Altamira family portraits by Goya.
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| Condesa de Alamira, detail. Embroidery on silk at her hem. |
Item #5 Josephine-Eleonore-Marie-Pauline de Brassac de Bearn. Location: Gallery 957
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| Josephine de Brassac de Bearn. Ingres, 1851-53. |
For purposes of discussion, I'll abbreviate the title of the painting to Josephine de Brassac de Bearn. De Brassac de Bearn was a member of the Second Empire elite, and known also by the courtesy title Princess de Broglie. Here she is prepared to go out, with her evening shawl, gloves and black cloak draped over a chair upholstered in golden damask.
The full skirt of her blue silk dress did not have a bustle but there may have been a small pillow, tied around the waist, lifting and filling out the back of the skirt, and a stiff crinoline providing more structure and volume. Lace and ruching frame her decolletage; her sleeves are trimmed with lace and ribbons and matching ribbons, as well as feathers, ornament her hair. The Princesse's arms are portrayed as meltingly soft and on her left wrist is wrapped by a pearl necklace functioning as a bracelet.
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| Josephine de Brassac de Bearn, detail. |
Sadly, this beautiful woman and mother of five died of tuberculosis at age 35. Her broken-hearted widower kept the portrait behind a curtain and never remarried.
Item #6 - The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve. Location: Gallery 305
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| The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve, Master of the Saint Godelieve Legend, 15th c. |
Next we travelled back to the fourth quarter of the fifteenth century, and learned about Saint Godelieve, a young noblewoman born around 1052. The painter portrayed the characters in contemporary costume of his century, and we see Godeliever's life and role changing with her dress.
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| Alterpiece, detail, left panel. |
The story begins in the two panels above - Godelieve, a teenager, is shown in the left panel at the bottom between her two sisters. Her parents sit at the top and are handsomely dressed in red and brocade as befits minor nobility. Godelieve's loose, flowing hair tells us she is not yet married. In the panel on the right she is sneaking food from her wealthy family to distribute to the poor. Her suspicious family had a servant confront her, but, miraculously, the stolen food became woodchips, so she evaded detection.
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| Saint Godelieve, detail, middle panel. |
In the leftmost panel of the central part of the altarpiece Godelieve is betrothed to a knight in the service of the Count of Burgundy. She weds the knight in the middle panel; both are opulently dressed in brocades. However, Godelieve continues to feed the poor, now using food from her new home. Her mother-in-law, shown in the black gown and white whimple in the rightmost panel above, tells a young maid to follow Godelieve and report back to her.
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| Saint Godelieve, detail, right panel. |
Unhappy with her daughter-in-law, the knight's mother convinces her son to have Godelieve murdered by two henchman. In the left panel above these two villains, dressed in striped hose - stripes are a sure sign of villainy - pull Godelieve out of bed. She wears only a simple night gown over her shift as the henchman strangle her. In the last panel, foreground, the villains tip her head first into a well, perhaps to make it look as if she drowned, and then arrange her on a bed, trying to mask any sign of violent murder. A cult developed around her, she was attributed with four miracles, and made a saint very soon after her death. Her faithless husband remarried, but remorse seems to have overcome him and he became a monk.
Item #7 Offering Bearer. Location: Gallery 105
Our last stop took us 4,000 years back in time, to ancient Egypt. Almost by accident archaelogists discovered an intact tomb in 1920, containing many models of Egyptian life as well as this figure bearing food for the afterlife.
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| Offering Bearer, or Estate Figure, c. 1981 - 1975 BC. |
Depicted in mid-stride, her dress clings to her body and mimics dresses made of multi-colored feathers. Her ankles and wrists feature jewelled bands.
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| Offering Bearer, back view. |
After this stop we headed to the Costume Institute and the Sandy Schreier exhibit, which I will cover in the next post. Stay tuned.
This was a great tour and I wish the Met and other museums would program more of this approach to art history.
