When I set out to the Metropolitan Museum in New York I did not expect to have as much fun as I did, nor did I expect to be there for over six hours. The Metropolitan has a vast collection and some of the most unique artifacts I can ever remember seeing at a museum. From the Greek and Roman art, to the sarcophaguses from Roman and Egyptian lands, it even has a reconstructed pyramid, and I didn't even get to experience more than half of the artifacts.
One enormous piece that caught my attention, centered in the middle of the Greek and Roman art on the main floor was a marble sarcophagus lid. This masterful piece had a man and a woman (presumably husband and wife) lying about as if they were lying next to a riverbed. It was from the Roman Severan …show more content…
Surprisingly enough (if I did not read the caption on what this was), I literally would have thought that this was some type of ceremonial urn of sorts. It is said to be from the Praenestine era between 350 to 325 B.C. It is the Museum's largest engraved cista, it is in a cylinder shape with three figures on the top and it is exquisitely decorated. The detail is captivating. I sat for about fifteen to twenty minutes trying to decipher the artistry and imagine how long it took to engrave something so beautiful thousands of years ago. The vividness of what looks to be tapestry like engraving around the cylinder and on the top looked effortless. The story I read depicted that of the Trojan War from Homer's Iliad. Friezes (the engravings) as they refer to seemed life like and can be distinguished extremely easily. At the base the cylinder are three engraved legs. The legs look like talons from a bird with what seemed to be some type of head at the top of the leg. There are decorative chains intertwined dressing the center of the cylinder connected with protruding latches. On the top are two winged fairies (perhaps) offering up what seems to be a prisoner, as also depicted in the engravings underneath it. Its amazing how something so elaborate was meant to hold human waste witches shows the significance of the piece and still makes it that much
One enormous piece that caught my attention, centered in the middle of the Greek and Roman art on the main floor was a marble sarcophagus lid. This masterful piece had a man and a woman (presumably husband and wife) lying about as if they were lying next to a riverbed. It was from the Roman Severan …show more content…
Surprisingly enough (if I did not read the caption on what this was), I literally would have thought that this was some type of ceremonial urn of sorts. It is said to be from the Praenestine era between 350 to 325 B.C. It is the Museum's largest engraved cista, it is in a cylinder shape with three figures on the top and it is exquisitely decorated. The detail is captivating. I sat for about fifteen to twenty minutes trying to decipher the artistry and imagine how long it took to engrave something so beautiful thousands of years ago. The vividness of what looks to be tapestry like engraving around the cylinder and on the top looked effortless. The story I read depicted that of the Trojan War from Homer's Iliad. Friezes (the engravings) as they refer to seemed life like and can be distinguished extremely easily. At the base the cylinder are three engraved legs. The legs look like talons from a bird with what seemed to be some type of head at the top of the leg. There are decorative chains intertwined dressing the center of the cylinder connected with protruding latches. On the top are two winged fairies (perhaps) offering up what seems to be a prisoner, as also depicted in the engravings underneath it. Its amazing how something so elaborate was meant to hold human waste witches shows the significance of the piece and still makes it that much