Running Head: A TRIP TO THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM 1

A trip to the Metropolitan Museum

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A Trip to the Metropolitan Museum

Visiting Metropolitan Museum of Art has left me recalling of that blood-curdling and

fantastic experience. Being one of the world’s premier cultural institutions and houses, it

significantly encompasses nearly everything from the ancient classics to the modern masters. With

its iconic Beaux-Arts façade, Metropolitan Museum of Art can easily fit among the famous

legendary European museums. Although it is distinctly American and New York experience, it is

a melting pot of the spectacular art and the artifacts from across time and the world. Interestingly,

the museum is fondly referred to as the Met and visitors can travel from as far as Paleolithic Egypt

to the Neolithic Near East to experience their culture in the form of artifacts in the museum.

What I realized is that Met features a comprehensive collection of calligraphy, art and even

ritual objects from Nepal, China, and Tibet. I was further fascinated by the artifact of Sarcophagus

of Junius Bassus and ignited my curiosity, and I immediately yearned to know its origin and history

of this magnificent artifact (Baetjer, 1999).

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus is a significant marble of Early Christian Sarcophagus that

was used for the burial of Junius Bassus, who is known to have died in 359. Importantly, it has

then been described as the single most famous piece of early Christian relief sculpture. Originally,

the sarcophagus was placed in the Old St. Peter’s Basilica inside the Vatican. Moreover, is one of

the oldest surviving high-status sarcophagi with clear and elaborate carvings of Christian themes

with complicated iconographic plans that embrace both the old and new testaments.

Junius Bassus
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Junius Bassus was a significant figure and a senator who was the head of the government

capital as the Praefectus Urbi at the time of his death in 359 when he was 42 years. Just as the

artifact of sarcophagus depicts, Bassus converted to Christianity shortly at the verge of his death

(Stokstad, 2010).

Source: (Baetjer, 1999)

Style and art of sarcophagus

The style and art in which this sculpture has been crafted are unique and many historians

agree that the workmanship and cooperation were of the highest quality during that time.

Furthermore, the sculpture shows fewer features of the late antique style of sculpture that had been

adopted in the earlier decades. Contrarily, the sculpture ignores practically all the rules obeyed by
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official artifacts. Uniquely, sarcophagus reflects a blending of the late Hellenic style with the

contemporary Roman and Italian creativity. Ingeniously, some figures in the sculpture are

portrayed frontally however not all and are not shown in a thoroughly Late Antique manner. In

addition, scenes in the artifact are three dimensional with a depth and background having drapery

hangings on recognizable human forms that are not arranged in preset folds with varied heads

indicating that there are recognizable different people on the artifact.

Reflection of previous vist

The Roman Arch of Constantine

The Roman arch was significantly the foundation of Rome’s architectural mastery and particularly

a massive expanse of building projects across the ancient world. This way, it allowed Romans to

make bigger buildings, better aqueducts and longer roads. In effect, the Roman arch has been

termed as the ancestor of modern architecture.

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References

Baetjer, K. (1999). Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Publishers.

Stokstad, M. (2010). Art HIstory. Harlow: Prentice Hall PUblishers.