We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. We haven't been there in a few years (not since The Gates were in Central Park) and it was time to go back. I took lots of pics today - you can click on the larger ones to see better detail! We started with the Egyptian Room, which is keeping with our theme of Ancient Egypt (we saw a musical about King Tut last week). There were so many mummies and many of them had with them miniature sarcophagi (which was made to look like the larger one) that the mummy's organs were kept in. We walked through ceiling-high tombs that were brought from Egypt and studied some of the heiroglyphics. J loved the small pieces of Egyptian art, like the jewelry, masks, and miniature statues. She took out the sketch pad and colored pencils and went to town drawing her favorites.



Then we headed to Ancient Rome and all the marble statues, stone columns, and vases. We saw that the Ptolemaic Era in Egypt (325BC - 30BC) was at a time when Rome was the most powerful empire in the world. Many Egyptian artifacts from that time period have noticeable Roman influence.




Then it was onto Ancient Greece (loved the battle-wear!), and into Medieval Times. Here, the favorite was definitely the armor, swords, and shields. I just kept thinking about how these were the actual pieces used for battles in medieval England.



The Modern Art room was next and the kids saw paintings from artists like Georgia O'Keeffe, Picasso, and Matisse. J sat for over 20 minutes sketching a beautiful Matisse work. W drew one he liked - a man and a woman sitting together.






Upstairs we saw the room of European artists. Here's where we saw a bunch of Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Renoir paintings. Wow. W found Monet's bridge and waterlilies painting he "reinterpreted" at the homeschool group's art class. The girls loved seeing Van Gogh's works so close up. J said these looked so different from the prints we usually see - the brushstrokes are so prominent and every dot and color blend stands out.



We ended the day in the gift shop, where I bought a perfect atlas of NYC that points out where every museum, theater, and place we'd want to go are. I also found a nice craft book all about Ancient Egypt. The kids are all about that this month, so we're going to make some stuff!