The Visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art - Visual Arts Reflection Paper

On Friday, October 27th, I took a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This is my first time visiting this museum, but my impression is tremendous. The museums have a wide range of art collections, exhibitions and special spaces that has strengthened my understanding my personal art experience. This multi-culture museum is gorgeous inside and out and has sculptures and painting from all around the world. The museum has successfully installed an overall picture that reflects the aesthetic values, history, religious beliefs and daily life. I was in amazement at all the pieces and the interesting stories behind them.

The first piece I chose is Washington Crossing the Delaware because it is one of the paintings I often see in the U.S history textbook. The sheer size of Leutze’s canvas, 25 X 21 feet pulls anyone standing before it into the scene. The 1851 oil-on-canvas representational painting depicts George Washington, then a general in the American Revolutionary War, crossing the half icy Delaware River with his troops on a winter night of December in 1776. This was to make a surprise attack on the Hessian forces in the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey. I was surprised to find out that it was not painted by American artist but by a German artist named Emanuel Leutze who did it in response to German politics. Leutze was a German immigrant who grew up in American and returned back to Germany as an adult. He strongly believed in liberal democracy and painted this American Revolution scene to encourage Europe’s liberal reforms during the European Revolutions of 1848. As his aim was to glorify the General Washington and his military action, there is little historical accuracy and composed more symbolism in the painting.

First, the size of the boat is far too small to bring the twelve men who occupy it. It would not be also possible to carry two horses on the boat or stand on the thin icy layer in the middle of the river to control the horse. At the first glance, I can notice who George Washington is even if I did not remember his appearance. His body proportion is slightly bigger than the other figures. His green saber really stands out to me as he is a powerful warrior. Wearing his army uniform, hat, boots, and a red-lined cape, Washington is standing upright on one leg and is looking straight to left where the boat is heading. I feel Washington’s determination and courage in facing the battle ahead as he leans forward into the wind. I can also see the obvious implied movement in the painting because other men on in the lead boat are struggling to break the choppy ice and puddling the boat. Other boats follow, crowded with soldiers and horses. The critics have also noted that the people on the boats are different ethnicity that would have been present in that time as they all have the different clothing designs. There is also a man, behind Washington, holding a flag which is moving by the wind seems to suggest that it is the inspirational symbol for the troops.

Leutze used a number of elements in this painting. First thing I notice is the use of a triangular composition.  The lead boat forms a large triangle which extends from the top of the flag to the boat’s bow and back to its stern. Other triangles can be also seen in other boats. The use of the atmospheric perspective is eminent in this painting. In the background, there are not outlines which convey the illusions that the interminable line of boats seems to go on forever. An atmospheric haze also indicates the distance of the opposite shore. Figures in the background are smaller than those in the foreground.  The use of color of the cloud is interesting for me as well. On the right side, there is the dark kind of ominous clouds whereas the left side has the unnatural source of light which is shining brightly. I feel that this metaphorically suggest that Washington and his troops are moving out from the underneath of the clouds of darkness and despair into the light and the brightness of their nation’s future. This clearly complete Leutze’s aim of inspiring the reformers to hold the American revolution as an example of a battle for freedom.

I chose Perseus with the Head of Medusa marble sculpture as my 2nd piece to discuss because my imagination of the face of Medusa is very different from how she was portrayed in the statue. This artwork was commissioned by Count Jan and Countess Valeria Tarnowski and sculptured by Italian neoclassical artist, Antonio Canova between 1804 and 1806. In the Greek mythology, Medusa was originally a human who has a beautiful golden-haired, fair lady with gentle, love-inspiring eyes. Having read about the life of Medusa before, I noticed that there are many different stories on how Medusa looks after she turned into a monster. Some myths portrayed her as the victim who was forced to lose virginity whereas other described as a villain who seduced a god, therefore, she was punished. Either way when Athena learned what had happened, she cursed Medusa with snakes for hair. The way her facial appearance expressed in the stories are also very contradictory. Some described she still has a beautiful face. Other stories said that she possesses an ugly face which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the viewer. With the curse, Gazers upon her hideous face would turn to stone.

As this statue is to glorify Perseus’s heroic act, I thought that Medusa would be ugly to show her identity as a villain. Surprisingly, Canova created the face of Medusa just like a beautiful lady, but her face is writhing in pain. Her snake-hair is very representational and doesn't look like real snakes. As the Greek Mythology stated, I can see Perseus is a handsome and strong young man. Canova construct the proportionally ideal image. The figure has the winged helmet which flies him to the world where Medusa lived, a cap that made him invisible and a sword. I feel that one thing missing in the sculpture is a mirror shied which allows him to see a reflection of Medusa’s face and to avoid being turned into stone. In addition, I feel that this sculpture is a snapshot of the moment after Perseus beheaded Medusa. Perseus is posed from one frontal viewing angle. Perseus stands triumphantly, holding up Medusa in the left hand and a sword in the right. His head is in perfect profile looking at the head. In this statue, the stretched arms of Perseus naturally balanced the center of gravity. A figure stands with the left leg holding its full weight and the right leg is relaxed. So, the right side was balanced by the somewhat unnatural shape of the robe which is loosely hang on the left shoulder falling down to the right feet. This technique keeps the sculpture stable. Also, I saw Medusa’s head has a hole in the bottom. I think this is to reduce the weight of the head to prevent from breaking off.