Upon arriving at the Metropolitan Museum, I was swept in through its large entrance doors among my friends and a multitude of other museum goers. We turned right to the ticket booth, picked up a museum button, and headed toward the second floor which houses the European paintings from 1250 to 1800.
As we entered the corridor that leads to the European paintings, the room was considerably quieter than the hallways, which bustled with activity. Museum attendants were stationed at almost every corner of each gallery, overlooking the viewers and warning younger visitors to stand at a distance from the artwork. The only sound that I could hear was the slight shuffle of shoes from the hallway and murmurs of people viewing the work.
We later made our way to the Robert Lehman Collection (Gallery 964), which housed a variety of styles of art from the Renaissance to Neoclassicism to Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. The painting in the picture I posted, Josesphine-Eleonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Bearn (1825-1860), Princess de Broglie by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, was one of my favorite portraits from the Robert Lehman Wing. The painting’s photo-realistic quality is really impressive to me and viewing it from just a picture doesn’t do it enough justice (especially a slightly blurry and angled one haha). I stood in front of it for almost fifteen minutes, taking in every detail in Josephine’s dress to the plushy quality of the chair she leans on to the smooth contours of her face.
I would definitely recommend visiting the Metropolitan Museum, especially with good company. There’s so much to see and explore there- you wouldn’t be able to see the entire museum’s collection in just one day.