The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, part 2

This summer, in 10 posts: Boston cont.

The endless roaming through massive galleries at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts continues!

True story: to get this shot, I stood as close to the pedestal as possible, leaned over the sarcophagus as much as I could without touching it, lifted my camera in one hand, and tried to get it as far above the heads as feasible! Sure enough, I triggered the laser alarm! Then I looked pretty much like Mr. Bean when he knows he’s in trouble and starts fidgeting, and expected an angry guard to storm into the gallery. M. pretended he didn’t know me, and I’m pretty sure that if I had been reprimanded in any way, he would have denied having any relationship with me whatsoever. Punishment never came, though, and I figured I was being watched, acting goofy but meaning no harm through the camera security system, and left alone to die of sheer embarrassment in front of peer visitors who witnessed the scene. It’s not even a decent shot for crying out loud!

Αληθινή ιστορία: για να τραβήξω την παρακάτω φωτογραφία (η οποία δεν είναι καν καλή), πλησίασα προσεκτικά στο βάθρο της σαρκοφάγου, άπλωσα το χέρι μου πάνω από τις φιγούρες κρατώντας τη φωτογραφική μηχανή με αυτό, το ένα, τεντώθηκα όσο περισσότερο μπορούσα ισορροπώντας μάλιστα στο ένα πόδι και… ενεργοποίησα τον συναγερμό! Μετά έκανα σαν τον Mister Bean στις σκηνές που πανικοβάλλεται γιατί έχει καταλάβει πως έχει κάνει την υπέρτατη βλακεία, και ο Μιχάλης έκανε ότι δεν με ήξερε! Αυτά…

After that little incident was over, we proceeded to the next gallery and I got to admire this impressive lady:

“This Roman marble lady is the largest Classical sculpture in any museum in the United States —standing 13 feet tall and weighing in at 13,000 pounds. The MFA acquired her from the Brookline estate of the Brandegee family (known as Faulkner farm), where she had been the major ornament of a famous Italianate garden for over 100 years.”

Then, we ventured on to more galleries…

“In 18th-century France, beds ranged from practical cots to extravagant fantasies. This bed was designed to stand lengthwise against the bedroom wall and set into an alcove, curtained off from the room for privacy. The metal wheels facilitated the easy removal of the bed from its alcove in order to change the linens.  The silk textiles and trimmings ordered for the bed and alcove represented the greatest expense in the room’s interior decoration. The 18th-century upholsterer used luxurious three-colored silk to cover the bed, line the walls in the alcove, and make the bed curtains; the silk and trims are an exact reproduction.”

“Sideboards trace their form, function, and iconography to noble homes in Europe, where such pieces had been in use since the fifteenth century. Ignatius Lutz was one of several French-trained cabinetmakers who dominated the high-end furniture trade in America, bringing European styles and craftsmanship to a wealthy and fashionable clientele. Lutz’s shop, employing thirty craftsmen, was among the largest in Philadelphia and relied upon handwork rather than power machinery to produce masterpieces such as this sideboard.”

“Twelfth night is observed in early January, marking the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Epiphany. It celebrates the arrival (twelve days after Christ’s birth) of the three Kings, led by a star, to the newborn Jesus. Here, Steen depicts the jovial atmosphere of a prosperous Dutch family’s celebrations. Notice the painting’s many details: egg shells litter the floor where children play with candles symbolic of the Kings, while at the table, adults carouse as a boy offers the little ‘king’ a bite off his holiday waffle.”

“The painter of this moody image based the composition on a printed view of Gay Head, on Martha’s Vineyard. The printed image is relatively bland, but the painting is charged with emotion. The rocks along the horizon, the stylized waves, and the barren branches create a disquieting mood, which may reflect the country’s anxiety during the Civil War.”

“Hallowell painted this for a wall over a large organ at the Boston City Club. The ensemble was dedicated to the memory of club members who had lost their lives in World War I. Hallowell worked as an illustrator, a muralist, and a painter; he also designed books, posters, and stained glass.”

“This elegant door once graced the central hallway of the Dorchester, Massachusetts, house of Roswell Gleason, a prosperous manufacturer of pewter and silverplate. According to family tradition, the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company produced the glass panels as a tribute to Gleason, who frequently utilized their glass in his products. The panels were made using the ‘overlay’ technique, in which sheets of blue and colorless glass were fused and engraved with a rotating grinding wheel.”

“At the turn of the twentieth century, more than 3000 carousels delighted children in  American amusement parks. All the carousels featured hand-carved animals, and Looff made some of the finest. Perhaps modeled after a Looff family pet, this greyhound wears a fanciful saddle and harness, embellished with cut-glass ornaments that would have sparked under the carousel’s electric lights.”

If you want to visit the MFA make no mistake: the venue is enormous and you had better plan your visit in advance, especially if you’re visiting with children or wishing to see something particular. There’s a plan-your-visit page on the museum’s website which includes floor-plans and all sorts of useful information that I wish I had known of, before visiting myself!

All information on selected items is quoted from the museum’s section/object labels & credit panels − Οι πληροφορίες σε επιλεγμένα αντικείμενα/φωτογραφίες είναι ακριβείς παραθέσεις από τις ταμπέλες των εκθεμάτων.

*images by Athina D. Pantazatou for Kicking Back the Pebbles