Metropolitan Museum of Art Roman-Greek gallery

I took these photos a few years back. I thought I would put the link here so people could take a short virtual tour of the gallery. It really is spectacular. A place well worth visiting.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30875049@N02/sets/72157608648082296

A few examples

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Nice images!

 

This is on my top-ten list of collections to visit. I had hoped to see it on the trip to NYINC, but couldn't swing an extra day. For now it'll have to wait.

 

I plan on visiting again in the next two weeks. With a new and better camera. I love the place.

 

I'm planning on a visit by March or April, since I LOVE NYC in the Spring.....

Wonderful photos!!!

 

Great pictures.

Did they have much of a numismatic presentation? (I am sometimes amazed that museums sometimes will have a great Greek-Roman collection with very little numismatic material.)


guy

 

Not a formal area as I remember. Some very impressive Roman gold here and there in displays against the wall (see pix) and the Greek Silver was behind plexiglass on a wall display. I almost missed it as I walked through a side gallery. However, to be honest...it would be hard for coins to compete with the other objects in the gallery. I was amazed at the antiquities they had in their possession. If you appreciate the history of mankind, you couldn't help but be awed.

For those in the New England area, The Ruettger Gallery at the MFA in Boston has an entire Room dedicated to ancient coins...it is breathtaking in scope, quality and presentation.

 

4to2,
The Met is a great museum. You can see everything from Egyptian statues to out of this world Impressionist painting. I've been going there for 25 years and am still overwhelmed by the breadth of their collections. Nowhere else can you see amazing examples of mid 16th century European armor then walk into the next gallery and be blown away by Tiffany glass windows. That whole neighborhood on the east side of Central Park is loaded with history, try the Frick Galkery or the Guggenheim. As an aside, my avatar is a shot from one of their busts on display about 4 years ago.

 

this is pretty crazy

 

I saw that display when I was very young and it stuck with me. Many years later, in search of armor I saw at the Met, I bought this..........

Kabuto Momoyama-Early Edo period (1568-1611)




I need to stay out of museums.................

 

Unfortunately the Met has never really been a friend of coins. Many years back, they had one of the finest collections of Roman gold known. They decided it wasn't "appropriate" for their mission. They rejected the suggestion that they turn it over to the ANS, and it became apparent that "not appropriate" was just an excuse to sell it for what was then big money. Most of the coins went to some big donors, like the Hunt brothers. They used the money to buy a Greek vase they coveted - turned out it was looted, and they had to give it up. So in the end, they got nothing for the collection - other than the appreciation of some big donors for the chance to buy some superb coins. [On a slightly different note: last time I was there, they had a Massachusetts shilling in the New England silver collection, which, along with the silver services, they kept well polished.]

 

^ srsly.
Think I saw more coins in the Upenn museum than MET.

 

Bob Hecht and his vase

 

When you support museums that are hostile to your interests either because they despise coins or private collectors, you are part of the problem. My not attending a Museum in a city I last visited forty years ago will not hurt them in the slightest but I can use the money saved to support a museum that understands the value of an exhibit is not reflected solely in the cost of the baubles.

 

While I understand and agree with this principle, there may be other forces and issues at work here.

For example, suppose one of the museum's staff -- someone who really did appreciate coins -- noted that they were doing a poor job of maintaining and displaying their ancient coins. It would be constructive to suggest that, rather than continuing to do a poor job, they sell the coins and use the proceeds to improve other exhibits to which they were firmly committed. The coins would end up in the hands of collectors who really treasured them, and other exhibits would be improved.

I think this is a distinct possibility, and I'm grateful that they did sell them -- otherwise I wouldn't have my Claudius Fides Praetorianorum aureus.

 

Musums are in the business of staying in business. Sometime exhibit and collection decisions are based on attracting the broadest spectrum of visitors which in turn generates more revenue. As much as I like coins, I also deeply appreciate the opportunity to see other artistic or cultural treasures.

 

Yes, selling them to the public is better than selling them to another museum or putting them in the basement.

 

By that logic, we should shut down every museum in the world [including the ANA Museum in Colorado Springs] and have them sell everything. No more museums, period. I guess some people never go to museums, but I would miss them.

 

I represent that comment! I went to visit a castle and ended up buying a 500 year old Katana in Kyoto over the Summer. It looks fabulous in my office and sets a constructive tone for civil interactions with my coworkers.

 

Sorry Doug, but I think that's equivalent to saying that you won't visit the Colosseum because the Italian government hates you as a Roman coin collector. I'm visiting the Colosseum, thank you very much. Same goes for the Met. It's an amazing museum and I'm going again in a couple weeks.

Couldn't agree more!! Let these morons sell the collections, piss away their benefactors contributions, and pass on lots of beautiful coins to us, the collectors! We'll appreciate them more and probably be better stewards of them in the long run.