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What makes a masterpiece? In this visually stunning high definition production, A World of Art, the magnificence of America’s premier art museum lights up the screen. One of the architectural glories of New York, the Met stretches 1000 feet along Fifth Avenue. Inside is a dazzling three dimensional encyclopedia of world art, radiating 5,000 years of artistic history.
Founded in 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was built on the shoulders of capitalism: J.P. Morgan, Havemeyer, Lehman, Rockefeller, and Annenberg are just a few of the names behind the Met’s collections. Today, the Met remains dedicated to the on-going pursuit of the greatest treasures of mankind.
In this episode: Egypt; China; Renaissance Europe; Arms & Armor; American; Impressionism; collectors J.P. Morgan and Louisine Havemeyer; connoisseurship and critical evaluation; Greece and Rome; Asian India; Costume Institute; early Italian Renaissance; Northern Renaissance; American portraiture from Copley to Sully to Sargent; Van Gogh; Africa, Oceania and Meso-America.
1353-1336 B.C.; Yellow Jasper
Over 3,000 years ago an Egyptian sculptor created this masterpiece in yellow jasper. It is merely a fragment of a larger sculpture, yet the evocative lines and extraordinary details place it among the great sculptures of any civilization.
Reassembled Statue Of Hatshepsut
The collection of ancient Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum ranks among the finest outside Cairo. Ancient statues were discovered in fragments and painstakingly reassembled, a process that’s similar to putting a puzzle together without a photograph.
Johannes Vermeer, Ca. 1662; Oil On Canvas
“Young Woman with a Water Pitcher,” one of Vermeer’s greatest works, is one of five of the Met’s paintings by this Old Master. The Met has rooms filled with paintings from the 17th Century – the Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish painting.
John Singer Sargent, 1883-84; Oil On Canvas
John Singer Sargent was the master of American portraiture. This provocative painting of “Madame X” caused quite a stir, particularly since he originally painted it with the shoulder strap off her shoulder, where it had fallen as he painted. He was later asked to put it back on her shoulder.
GREAT MUSEUMS TV
EXPLORE