With the faint echoes of the cheering outside for the New York City Marathon, I entered the Greek and Roman section of the Met. I love walking into each different section of the Met, because I believe the building itself truly sets up the entire experience of appreciating the art. When you walk into the Greek and Roman section, you’re stunned by the high ceilings in the first hallway. The light is beaming down on a collection of white marble statues. It’s enchanting and overwhelmingly beautiful. Sometimes I get lost in the scene of the Met as a whole. Art strategically placed and artists plopping down left and right to try and capture the exact angle they want for their sketch. There’s also a lot of smaller ‘bodies’ of water in the Met, so you always hear the sound of trickling water resonating throughout the hushed murmur of tourists in awe.
When I was finally able to get past the influx of sensational stimulations, I headed to the side rooms, in which rows and rows of Greek urns, vases, plates and bowls were on display. To be quite honest, I’m wondering in what format did Keats’ see his grecian urn or elgin marbles? Especially in terms of the grecian urn, he tends to describe the urn as something that transcends humanity. He’s enamored by both pieces of art, and takes special care to describe his observation of these objects. As I moved passed the rows and rows of urns, it was almost too distracting. I couldn’t focus on just one urn, because there were twenty other epic scenes to the left and to the right of it. Each one had a story to tell, but I think that story was less poignant as a little piece of a giant collection.
I then sought out something that was close to what Keats must have seen when observing the elgin marbles. The collection of statues in the Met is predominantly Roman. Most of the statues are placed in open rooms with a lot of lighting, and the spacing is much more beneficial for observation. I will admit that my “spirit is too weak” every time I see one of those statues in the perfect lighting. The amount of detail is incredible, and the emotional expressions of the pieces are staggering.
I love any excuse to get lost in the Met, and this light-gray Sunday was no exception. Again, I’m still wondering what Keats’ encounters were like, beyond just his emotions about time and about the art pieces. I think that your surroundings are an essential piece of your experience with art. For example, going to see Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” at the MoMA is a much different experience than waking up every morning to see a copy of that painting on a canvas in my room. While I was walking through, I wondered who Keats’ had around him when observing these artworks or where he saw them. Guess we’ll never truly know.
