Soiree in New York City: A Retrospective: Come share the adventures!

[ginny]

September 8-12, 2010
Everyone is invited!  

Autumn in New York, (are you singing?) What could be finer?

Based on the resounding success of our 10th Anniversary Gathering in NYC in 2008, we thought we'd try it again!~

Our Hotel: The Leo House:  "The Little Heart in the  Big City," with the best rates you'll find anywhere.

Hotel Information and Rates

Garden at the Leo House

If you are a Latin student, come meet some of  your classmates, for a fun filled day or  weekend:

Classics Students at the Met, NYC 2008

Brief  Schedule Outline
See below for details and plan to join us:

                

Sept 8th-Wednesday: --Contact: Ann for details. Ann  plans for us to meet at the Fraunces Tavern Museum at 3pm.  When the museum closes at 5pm, we'll walk to the Bridge Cafe, also historic,  for dinner. Our reservation is for 6 pm.  Fraunces Tavern is  where George Washington and his generals met after or during the Revolution.   The Bridge Cafe

Thursday 9/9: --LucyLibr--plans a cruise on the Hudson. Contact: Lucy for details.

Friday 9/10  

Morning at the Met:

9:45: Join us for a private tour of the Met with Assisted Listening Devices on a surprise topic of interest to us all! They are working on it now and it should be unforgettable!

---Followed by Lunch in the Atrium Cafe under the glass.

---Followed by a short seque  open to all to see the  Cubiculum of Villa of P. Fannius Synistor, and the Monteleone Chariot! See email.

---After Lunch: Free Afternoon at Leisure
 

Saturday 9/11:  Our First Author's Tea at the award winning  Sarabeth's, see below! -

Sunday 9/12 Those wanting to go to Ellis Island will convene in the Lobby of the Leo. As an alternative, Ann plans a trip to the Tenement Museum. OR just do your own thing! Contact: ginny for details.

Other Enticements:

Alf is planning a Surprise!  Contact: Andrea   for details.

Pedl'n plans a day at the newest NYC park, the High Line.    http://www.thehighline.org/ Contact: Pedln for details.

Additional Possibilities:

The short terms, unscheduled -- High Line Park, with maybe a visit to Chelsea Market nearby, Union Square,  The Strand,  shopping,  Tenement museum, Botanical Gardens, Etaly if open, a Broadway Show, Algonquin or Chelsea Hotels, concerts, opera, bus tour of NYC, etc.

Monday 9/13: : Travel Day:  Departure


New!!


9/11: Our  First Ever Author Tea at Sarabeth's on Central Park between 5th and 6th Avenue:  This is our room!

Join us on September 11 in this award winning restaurant looking out on the Park for one of their famous Teas, at less than half price, $10 only, no tax, and enjoy meeting our authors, Bruce Frankel,  and Maryann McFadden:


"I can think of no writer I'd rather have sing me songs of the sea, even sad ones, than Maryann McFadden."---Anne Rivers Siddons
We'll be discussing Maryann McFadden's book,  here on SeniorLearn beginning August 15 - at
"So Happy Together" Join us today!

Bruce Frankel’s book, "What Should I Do With the Rest of My Life" is inspirational!  "This upbeat, inspiring, timely book shows how taking a risk and fighting to find a passionate career — at any age — can reinvigorate your life...”— Susan Shapiro
Come join Bruce now - and be inspired!  
Talking Heads ~ "What Should I Do With the Rest of My Life"

Contact: Ann today to secure your place at the table!  We have only a few seats left!~  Don't miss this one!!

See information about reservations at the LEO HOUSE. Deadline to reserve your accommodations is June 15!

Questions about the gathering? Contact: Ann

As a New Yorker would say, "What's not to like?"  

Join us if you can, you'll never forget it!

Sign in here and help us plan what you want to see and do!

[ginny]

Oh how wonderful, your grandson from Japan! Zulema is such a TRIP I wish I could have been a fly on that wall.

Those of you who know NYC, is it safe to walk at 5 pm from Fraunces to the Bridge Cafe?

Zulema, this:   The American Wing atrium has reopened and is also a beautiful area under glass, and there is a café there and a lot of tables.  It's just café fare, sandwiches and salads, etc., and reasonable, as is the cafeteria in the basement.  Nothing is really cheap, but this is New York.  All of the eating places get crowded, but this will be early enough since we start the tour at 11  sounds perfect. Do they take reservations? If so we can get a head count and make one.  It sounds JUST the perfect experience to end our trip to the Met.

It sounds like just the place for us, we've done the cafeteria, and the rooftop,  let's try a "beautiful area under glass". Sometimes I feel I should be pickled under glass anyway. hahahaa

I am so glad you asked this:

Is the guided tour at the Met on Friday just for our group?  Do I need to put my name in?  And are we having lunch with our guide?  Or am I presuming?  

No, it is not just for us, it's a rare gift we stumbled into.

You can't hire this guy like we did the other woman. He's
 Associate Museum Educator and some websites have him Director of Family Programs for the Met.  He's not a general docent for hire like the woman in 2008.  This is one of their famous Gallery Talks, which are absolutely fabulous. This is the reason I strongly advise   Assisted Listening Devices, which are available for this tour, or I do, because the last time I went  last year there were at least 20 people,  including one entire senior art class, and a lot of others, and one needed to angle at each pause so as to hear properly and I've got the hearing of an owl.

There is no telling how many people may attend on the 11th, it's open to the public. I could kiss his feet for offering it on OUR watch, it's the only one scheduled the entire time, on Classics topics. We are so lucky!!   That's why we want to get there early and get the listening devices (tho I know some don't want them). If you do have one you might be glad. I am hoping we can get a group photo tho.

I'll definitely consider your name put in, maybe I do need to get up a less than informal head count from our group. Let me go back and get up a list, I've got you, Eloise and Joan R (I agree!! Are you 2 or 1 for this one,  Joan?)

Gosh I'm sure  Mr. Norris won't be coming to lunch, but it's a nice thought.   He's written at least three books on Greek and Byzantine Art and is on Museum Staff in the Education Department.  He's right up your alley, Zulema: an educator whose specialty seems to be Greek art: here's one of his books available in the Met Store:



The lesson plans, slides, posters, texts, and other materials in this tote box provide many tools and approaches for creative use in the teaching of Greek art. Among the contents of this resource are a map of the ancient Greek world; a brief history of Athens from the sixth to the fourth century B.C.; a look at key aspects of fifth-century Greek life, including myths and religion, philosophy and science, music, poetry, sports, the symposium, and warfare; discussions of Greek art, artists, and materials on the influence of Greek subjects in the art of other eras; suggested activities and lesson plans; a timeline; a bibliography and a videography; and a guide to web resources.

I have a feeling we'll emerge knowing a great deal about ancient life we didn't. It's just so perfect for us, a gift.

And look Eloise, he'd be perfect for the Cloisters, too:


Medieval Art: A Resource for Teachers (also by Michael Norris)


We need to get there early, what's the best way to go quickly  from the Leo House, New Yorkers? 

[pedln]

The ALDs worked well two years ago at the Met.  I'm assuming they will again.  Put me on your list, Ginny.

Zulema,  re: Strata Ber  .    .   .  .  I think the grilled veggies and the risotto are the side dishes, not the entre.

[ginny]

Ok, Pedln, you're ON! Here's the menu for the American Wing Cafe, I saw it when we did the Stained Glass, it IS airy, the tables as I recall are small tho that should not be a problem.

http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/dining/american_menu

[ginny]

I tell you what, let's rephrase this a little bit. Is there  anybody NOT planning to go to the Met on Friday morning? If not, will you email me? That would include your party, if you are 2 people and one is not coming, would you email me?

You realize this is our THIRD author we're hearing speak in this brief time?  Don't let anybody tell you we're not about Books AND Classics.

[ANNIE]

And if Eloise asks him what he is doing at the Cloisters that week or we ask him to join our tea at Sarabeth's, we can say we hit the jack pot of authors for this trip.
Yes, Mary and I will be at the Met.

[ginny]

Thank you! The Cloisters schedule of talks is on the Internet and it would make a super trip also if anybody is interested!~

[ginny]

It's a good thing we're all thinking aloud here, in looking up Michael Norris'  email (they don't provide one) I found a bunch of stuff on Groups going to the Met, there seem to be some advantages in going as a Group, and the advance notice is 4 weeks, so we've just squeaked under the wire. This means I probably will need to have a head count.

It appears we get an incredible discount, too, stay tuned.

Meanwhile, we've got:

ginny
Eloise
Pedln
Ann
Mary
Joan R
Meg?
Zulema
Lucy?
Gay
Who else?
Vivian?
Andrea?

I think, (if I remember correctly) that I prepay the entrance fees and we go in a separate way, bypassing all the lines, etc., and they have the Listening stuff ready. But we'll see. This appears definitely the way to go! I'm so glad you mentioned contacting him.

[Eloise]

A well planned trip is so much more enjoyable I think, there are no loose ends.

Is there a benefit on buying the New York Pass? Am I going to use it enough to make it worth while? I know it includes the Metropolitain of Modern Art but I don’t think that is the same as the Met you all are talking about. But it does include the Circle Cruise and other venues I don’t know if I will take yet.

Today I got my US currency, not much because I will have my credit cards which I prefer. Once arrived in NY I will see about getting some coins for buses and such. Here in Canada we have one and two dollar coins, we use a pouch to carry them. Nonono, just joking.

If I can squeeze in St. Pat’s Cathedral I would love to see it.
Pedln and JoanR, then let’s try and go eat lunch in Union Square, I Googled it and it looks like the Farmer’s Market we have in Montrea ll.

I will try and get a Manhattan bus map from the Tourist Office in Montreal.

Pedln, I returned the Kindle as I was disappointed in too many areas to want to keep it.

Ginny, French cooking? Yes in my own kitchen but it’s rather called extreme nutrition in small portions, like a complete dinner that fits in a saucer. I can take the train thinking about all those wonderful memories of my special visit in New York City with special friends. Thank you all for making this trip a memorable one for me. It might very well my last trip, who knows.

Zulema, that would be another grandson than the one who came to Montreal because he was about 15 then, a lovely boy, Anthony that you met is now 17 and 6.1, still a charmer.

A foreign film Joan and Anne? Do you want a French movie with English subtitles? I Googled it and NYC has several theatres, that would be super, La Vie En Rose, the life of Edith Piaff is a good film but I don’t know if it is still playing.

[Lucylibr]

I would love to go to the Cloisters--have never been there.  Anybody up for that?

I hope to attend a program at the Tenement Museum this week--will let you know how it is.  Lucy

[ginny]

Oh are you going to the one about Hot Time in the City on the 15th? It looks fabulous. Will you see if the woman who wrote the 97 Orchard Street book is there, or if the book is there?

Eloise, yes the "Met" is the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it might include the Cloisters, too.

If you all are going to the  Cloisters, you really MUST read King of the Confessors first, it's by Thomas Hoving, former Director of the Cloisters first and then the Met. It's about the Bury St. Edmund's Cross, one of the treasures of the Cloisters, so you can have a real insider's look before you go and is probably the best book you'll ever read. I loved it.

It was about how Hoving found and brought the cross to the Cloisters.

 He did a sequel to it, answering some of the questions, but it's an e book and needs to be downloaded.

[Lucylibr]

The talk is Thursday, Aug. 12.

I have to finish Pillars of the Earth and am somewhat befind in my reading for the NYC visit.  It sounds interesting, glad to know about it.

[ginny]

How IS Pillars of the Earth? I have heard a lot about it.

Ok here we are for the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday September 10 at 11:00, Michael Norris speaking on The Ancient Child; lunch follows in the Atrium. Group rate and perks, Assisted Listening Devices, yay!

ginny
Eloise
Pedln
Ann
Mary
Joan R
Meg?
Zulema
Lucy
Gay
Vivian?
Andrea
Who else? Great time to get in the Met which of course is full of so many earthly delights. Possibly a concert that evening, it's Friday, I'll look.

[ALF43]

Ginny- as alwys count me in.  If everyone else is going, I am in.  Eloise, I will go with you to St. Pats if you would like.  Last time Ginny and I headed there we got off course.

[ginny]

Great!! Ok, burning questions, New Yorkers:

1. Does Eloise want to buy the NYC Pass? Is she going to use it enough to merit the cost? What does it cover, Eloise and how much is it? Our entrance to the Met, normally $34 suggested for adults, $15 for seniors, will be free. You can't get that anywhere else but us!

2. What is the quickest way to the Met from the Leo House, Cab? Hired Car? I k now it's not a combination of subway and bus and I don't think any bus goes all the way, does it?

3. Is it safe to walk at 5:00 pm from Fraunces Tavern Museum to the Bridge Cafe?

That's for starters. Out of Towners, NYC is not Disney World,  we need to have our purses across the chest at all times, lest we go home without it. I have seen them snatch one on the street fast as lightning.

[ALF43]

Ginny- I would venture to say that NY City is safer now than it was when I lived there in the 60's.  9/11 changed that attitude.

[Lucylibr]

I asked my subway consultant about the trip from Leo House to Met.
The Answer:Take A train from 23rd to 81st and Central Park West. From there take M79 bus directly to the Met.

What are you doing at Tavern on the Green?  It is closed and my consultant says there is nothing of interest in its place. Bridge Cafe is in lower Manhattan, right?  That would be a long walk from the upper West Side.

Well, sure, be careful, but I am not afraid to walk around NYC or Rockaway at night.  The biggest danger is tripping and falling where the light is not good.

Pillars of the Earth is a formidable novel with lots of sex, violence, and unbelievable happenings.  It is biased in favor of women, the strong women who could triumph in a society hostile to their having any power. It is fascinating, an excellent read, and the information about architecture, which I assume is accurate, is most informative, as well as life in those times. I'm coming to the end and would like to read more about the background and what the author has to say.
When the series came out recently, which I have not seen, people kept telling me what a great novel it is and what I was missing, so I am reading it.  A woman on the bus saw me reading it and told me how much she liked it and the sequel and that she is looking forward to a third historical novel by Follett. I don't know if I am up to all that. This woman was probably not studying Latin; she was headed to the library!

[Eloise]

One day pass  $75 - Two day pass $120 - Three day pass $125. It covers:

•Circle Line River Cruise
•Empire State Building
•Guggenheim Museum
•Statue of Liberty
•New York Skyride
•Top of the Rock
•Madame Tussaud's
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art
•Food on Foot Tours
•King Tut Exhibition

The Met is free you say Ginny. I don't think it's possible or desirable to try and squeeze in too many things in one or two days that the pass covers.

We alI loved Pilars of the Earth. I might reread it, something I do very rarely.

[ginny]

Hmm, Tut Exhibition. And the Guggenheim. For one day it might be a close call,  but it depends on what you had planned to see on that one day.   The Met is not free, if you go look on their website, the "suggested" donations are:


Recommended    
Adults    $20
Seniors (65 and older)    $15
Students    $10*
Members (Join Now)    Free
Children under 12 (accompanied by an adult)    Free

To help cover the costs of special exhibitions, we ask that you please pay the full recommended amount.

This can be found here: http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/general_information/

In order to get the Assisted Listening Devices,  you have to have the little button which comes with the admission prices, in other words, you have to have paid entry.  They are clear on this too. Those free students have to be from New York. Our "free" is courtesy of SeniorLearn.

I know some people never pay anything. I THINK, somebody correct me, that to get in the exhibitions (should you desire to) you need to have paid. I don't know.

What do you all think on the NY Pass?

_____________________________________________

Lucy, thank you on Pillars of the Earth. I've heard a lot about it too, and I appreciate hearing your review. Thank you for the directions, too. I am wondering if we took the express to Times Square if we then could catch a cab to the door? Seems like and I could be wrong, cabbies don't want to go to the Met from 23rd street. In fact I found in December they really did not want to go to 23rd Street from Times Square.

Perhaps they make a lot more money on short trips.  I really don't want to get stuck in traffic or futz around with changes, lots of steps, etc., on that particular day. We could leave very early tho. Obsess obsess.

PLANNING as Eloise says.

[pedln]

Cloisters is included in Met ticket, but they close at 5:15, so you really wouldn't have a whole lot of time there after a Met tour, lunch, and bus/subway.  It looks like you can get an M4 bus on Madison Ave. and it goes practically to the Cloisters door?   I use a walker when I'm galavanting around the big city, so I use feet, cabs, and buses, but not subways.  Leo HOuse will put on a taxi light which means the taxis will stop there.  They took me, I guess they'll take anybody.   

Also, one can use a car service.  Last time Leo HOuse had one they recommended and I used it to get to the airport.  And will probably use one to get to Brooklyn on Monday.

[ANNIE]

Lucy,
We aren't walking from the Met to the Bridge Cafe.  We are walking from the Fraunces Tavern Museum to the Bridge Cafe on the first night--Sept 8th.  We are meeting at the Fraunces from 3pm to 5pm or so, then we have a 15 minute walk up to the Bridge Cafe.  I planned on giving us way more time to do the walk after we leave the museum.

Eloise,
I don't see The Cloisters on that list so does our entry into the Met on Friday which is for a personal tour with the listening devices and lunch give you enough time to go up to the Cloisters?? Mary and I did that trip vicey-versy in '98 along with Joan Grimes and her cousin.  We left the Cloisters around 4pm on a Sat. and took the subway to the Met via a bus also.  The Met closes later than Cloisters on weekends.

Looks like you would only get your River Cruise paid for in buying that pass.  Mary and I bought the transportation pass both times we went with this group. The price is good and it does get you around faster.  I think its $35 dollars for a 7-day pass and maybe you could get it for less like a 3 or 4 day pass.
  

[ginny]

I knew it was too good to be true.

We do have a SNAFU with the Met now, a hitch in our get along. I'm about to write  all of you, we have several options, I'd like to do what you all would enjoy most. I've  been talking to them and also to (as of 10 minutes ago) the Cloisters about a guided tour of the Cloisters in place of the Met, since some of you have not been and we did go thru the Cloisters rather fast, perhaps, tho we'll never be with such a bright light again.

SHOULD the Met tour not work out,  WOULD you be interested in substituting the Cloisters which has a lot more than we saw (they have an entire program on plants, the gardens, the representation of the plants in art at the Cloisters, etc., alone to the public).  At any rate you can pick a theme like art, literature, (?) history, religion, and it's a gorgeous venue.

I'll write you in a mo, once the baby goes down for his nap and I hear back from the Met itself, we  have until tomorrow for the  Cloisters. Sorry for the problem.

[ANNIE]

Does that poor kid know you still refer to him as the baby?  How about your little fella'?  Isn't he almost four now??

[ginny]

He's 3 1/2.   

We've been digging in the garden all morning, in the barn,  under the hay loft, and in the woods.  Lovely idyllic day...until. Everybody should have a letter from me now, let's see what happens.

[ginny]

Ok we're getting a lot of suggestions and they are good, I appreciate everybody's wonderful spirit here.

The Cloisters has a cafe: the menu is very nice:






(Seasonal) The Trie Café at The Cloisters Museum and Gardens ($)
Hours: April through October: Tuesday–Sunday: 10:00 a.m.–4:15 p.m.; Closed Mondays.

Location: Lower level in the Trie Cloister at The Cloisters Museum and Gardens in Fort Tryon Park, Northern Manhattan. See The Cloisters Museum and Gardens for more information, including directions.

Details: Self-service sandwiches, snacks, dessert, cold beverages, and coffee served outdoors under the covered arcades and walkway of the medieval French Trie Cloister. See a sample menu. Children are welcome.


That's actually quite nice. Still working on it.

http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/dining/trie_menu

[Zulema]

Pedln,

The Strata is made of Grilled vegetables with Goat Cheese. It's a layered vegetable torte, well, a strata.  The risotto is the side dish.

Eloise,

They grow up so quickly, bless them!  Nicholas, whom you met, is now 20 and 6'1 also, and will be a junior in college next month, majoring in Math.  Jordan, the 14-yr-old, is my oldest daughter's son.  He was born and has been raised in Japan, though neither of his parents is Japanese.   

[Zulema]

Ginny,

Purses across the chest?  New York is one of the safest large cities in this country.  During the season, I often come home alone at close to 1 AM on the subway from the other Met (the Opera). Of course there are unsafe places, but I don't think any of the plans and suggestions  puts one anywhere remotely near them.

Aren't Group Talks at the Met specially designed and planned?  Michael Norris's talk is a regularly scheduled one for everyone so it seems to me it can't be turned into a Group Talk.  What is wrong with getting to the Museum at 10:30 or so, going through admissions on the Ground Floor, South of the grand entrance, and then going to the meeting place for Gallery tours and talks, which is on the First Floor all the way at the North end of the Great Hall?  Am I missing something? 

[ginny]

Thank you, Zulema, I took that up with them yesterday. What's wrong is if we appear to be a group more than 6 who obviously know each other, if the crowd is large, that group  may have to be turned away. They've been steadfast on this point even when pleaded with.

I can certainly understand in one of the greatest museums in the world how you can't just turn up for a  scheduled talk with 90 people. The meeting place for the Gallery Talks is the same place we met our guide last time.

I THINK  this morning I have a solution which should please everybody. Cross fingers and toes, and let me talk to the Met again.

I do want to say how impressed I am, as always, with this group of people, who are SO wonderfully supportive, generous, and cooperative. THAT alone has already made a super memory, and you know we always rise to the top (like cream) and end up with a better outcome than we first imagined.  Thank you all.

Good to hear about the safety factor, thank you It'a always so good to have people who live where we're going who know the ropes.  I think, still, for those coming from areas and places, like I do, where people think nothing of leaving their purse at a table and going back for seconds, that we might want to be a little more safety conscious than we normally are at home. Depending of course on where you live.  

Exciting, huh? hahahaa Love it. I love the challenges in travel.

[ginny]

ALL RIGHTIE THEN!! We're ROLLING now. I knew there was a way to have our cake and eat it too, I'm that kind of person and I really wanted the best for all of us.

We have our tour, it's at 9:45,  a private tour of the Met, and the subject is going to be a surprise, but it's something of interest to us as a  Books group, something you can take home with you, your new found knowledge. See my email for more particulars.

Those who were losing sleep over not seeing Mr. Norris can sleep again, as a few individuals you can definitely see him. AND our own customized group tour. So it's win/ win.

We'll definitely eat in the Atrium Court, versus the group price of $65 each at the Petrie Court. I did want a lovely memory but that's too lovely. hahahaa They say the Atrium is  self serve, we will repair after our tour there and  have a lovely brunch starting at 11:00, a nice together time, see email again.

Then it's FREE time from 12:00 on! Your "button" will allow you to enter the Cloisters free today should you desire to go. The Met itself is open till 9 pm Friday night.

However, I hope our Latin students should they desire to,  and I hope they will, can go with me (and anybody else is definitely welcome) to the newly restored dazzling Cubiculum (bedroom) from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale.   My feelings will NOT be hurt if you feel ready to move on after lunch, however.

But why be there and not see this new restoration?



Since this is now thought by many to be the actual farm home of Caecilius, we really want to see this thing in its dazzling new appearance, cleaned and bright.

Boscoreale, an area about a mile north of Pompeii, was notable in antiquity for having numerous aristocratic country villas. This tradition endured into the time of the Bourbon kings, as is attested by the region's name, the "Royal Forest," which implies that Boscoreale was a hunting preserve. Some of the most important wall paintings surviving from antiquity come from a Roman villa at Boscoreale built shortly after the middle of the first century B.C. The villa, which was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D., is referred to as the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor, one of its owners during the first half part of the first century A.D. Excavated in the early 1900s, the villa's frescoes are among the most important to be found anywhere in the Roman world.


The villa at Boscoreale is a variant of the so-called villa rustica, a country house of which only a small part functioned as a farmhouse (pars rustica). The majority of the villa served as a residence for the owner, a member of that class of wealthy Roman citizens who owned more properties of this kind and used them as country houses. The painted decoration of the villa at Boscoreale, which was executed sometime around 40–30 B.C., attests to the original owner as a rich man with exquisite taste. The fact that the mid-first-century B.C. decoration was not replaced by another, more contemporary, decoration in the first century A.D. is a clear indication that there was already an awareness of the quality of the frescoes in antiquity.

The surviving paintings are extremely fine examples of the late Second Style, the most renowned style in Roman wall painting. Throughout the frescoes from the villa at Boscoreale there are visual ambiguities to tease the eye, including architectural details painted to resemble real ones, such as rusticated masonry, pillars, and columns that cast shadows into the viewer's space, and more conventional trompe l'oeil devices, such as three-dimensional meanders. Objects of daily life were depicted in such a way as to seem real, with metal and glass vases on shelves and tables appearing to project out from the wall. Cumulatively, these trompe l'oeil devices reveal the Republican owner's evident pleasure in impressing guests at his comfortable summer retreat.

Luxury villas, like the one at Boscoreale, were often the setting for conspicuous consumption of Hellenistic art and culture by the Roman aristocracy. Although in public life, a senator aimed to cut a severe figure of traditional Roman values—austere, practical, conservative—his household and his villas were the settings for extravagant displays of refined living—of building, decorating, eating, and philosophizing. The inspiration for this came from the Greeks in the east, including the repertoire of ideas and the artists, decorators, and intellectuals. Roman villa architecture combined the core of a Roman house with peristyles and gardens borrowed from Greek gymnasia, palaces, and sanctuaries. The Roman aristocracy aimed to evoke the culture of Athenian academies, the charmed world of the Hellenistic pastoral, and the magnificence of Alexandrian palaces. Portraits of Greek philosophers and writers represented learning; statues of satyrs and nymphs re-created an idyllic Dionysian landscape; and wall paintings, rich in Greek myth and dynastic portraiture, provided majestic interiors.

Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Source: Boscoreale: Frescoes from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art




And the Monteleone Chariot: Etruscan:


This is upstairs we ran up and looked at it 5 minutes, let's look again, knowing this:

Chariot, late 6th century b.c.
Etruscan; From Monteleone, Italy
Bronze

H. 51 1/2 in. (130.8 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1903 (03.23.1)

Description

Scenes from the life of the Greek hero Achilles

The Acquisition
In 1902, a landowner working on his property accidentally discovered a subterranean built tomb covered by a tumulus (mound). His investigations revealed the remains of a parade chariot as well as bronze, ceramic, and iron utensils together with other grave goods. Following the discovery, the finds passed through the hands of several Italian owners and dealers who were responsible for the appearance of the chariot and related material on the Paris art market. There they were purchased in 1903 by General Luigi Palma di Cesnola, the first director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Monteleone chariot is the best preserved example of its kind from ancient Italy before the Roman period. The relatively good condition of its major parts--the panels of the car, the pole, and the wheels--has made it possible to undertake a new reconstruction based on the most recent scholarship. Moreover, some of the surviving ivory fragments can now be placed with reasonable certitude.
The other tomb furnishings acquired with the chariot are exhibited in two cases on the south wall of this gallery.

The Form and Function of the Chariot
Chariots originated in the Ancient Near East during the early second millennium B.C. and spread westward through Egypt, Cyprus, and the Greek world. In the predominant early type, the car consisted essentially of a platform with a light barrier at the front.

On the Italian peninsula, the largest number of chariots come from Etruria and the surrounding regions. They are datable between the second half of the eighth and the fifth centuries B.C. and represent several varieties. None seems to have been used for fighting in battle. Most came to light in tombs; after serving in life, they were buried with their owners, male and also female.

The Monteleone chariot belongs to a group of parade chariots, so called because they were used by significant individuals on special occasions. They have two wheels and were drawn by two horses standing about forty-nine inches (122 centimeters) apart at the point where the yoke rests on their necks. The car would have accommodated the driver and the distinguished passenger.

The shape of the car, with a tall panel in front and a lower one at each side, provided expansive surfaces for decoration, executed in repoussé. The frieze at the axle, the attachment of the pole to the car, and the ends of the pole and yoke all have additional figural embellishment.

The Materials of the Chariot

Although none of the substructure of the original chariot survives, except in one wheel, much information can be gleaned from details on the bronze pieces, other preserved chariots, and ancient depictions of chariots. Note that a chariot is represented on the proper left panel of the car.

The preserved bronze elements of the car were originally mounted on a wooden substructure. The rails supporting the three main figural panels were made from a tree such as a yew or wild fig. The floor consisted of wooden slats. The wooden wheels were revetted with bronze, an exceptional practice probably reserved only for the most elaborate chariots. A bit of the preserved core has been identified as oak. The tires are of iron. The sections of the pole were mounted on straight branches.

A major component of the original vehicle was leather applied to the wooden substructure. The connection of the pole to the car would have been reinforced by rawhide straps gathered beneath the boar's head, and the yoke would have been lashed to the pole. The upper end of the pole shows traces of the leather bands. In addition, all of the horses' harness was of leather. Moreover, rings of pigskin with the fat attached helped reduce friction between the moving parts of the wheels.

The Monteleone chariot is distinguished not only by the extraordinary execution of the bronze panels but also by the inclusion of ivory inlays. The ivories, from both elephant and hippopotamus, are so fragmentary that only the tusks of the boar and the finials at the back of the car have been placed in their original positions. The remaining pieces are exhibited in a case on the south wall. A series of long narrow strips served as edging, perhaps around the panels of the car or on the underside of the pole. It is possible that other fragments filled the spaces between the figures in the central panel of the car. A major question concerning these adjuncts is the method of their attachment, requiring the use of an adhesive. Another question is whether the ivories were painted.

The Figures on the Chariot

The iconography represents a carefully thought-out program. The three major panels of the car depict episodes from the life of Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War. In the magnificent central scene, Achilles, on the right, receives from his mother, Thetis, on the left, a shield and helmet to replace the armor that Achilles had given his friend Patroklos, for combat against the Trojan Hektor. Patroklos was killed, allowing Hektor to take Achilles' armor. The subject was widely known thanks to the account in Homer's Iliad and many representations in Greek art. The panel on the left shows a combat between two warriors, usually identified as the Greek Achilles and the Trojan Memnon. In the panel on the right, the apotheosis of Achilles shows him ascending in a chariot drawn by winged horses.

The subsidiary reliefs partly covered by the wheels are interpreted as showing Achilles as a youth in the care of the centaur Chiron and Achilles as a lion felling his foes, in this case a stag and a bull.
The central axis of the chariot is reinforced by the head and forelegs of the boar at the join of the pole to the car. The deer below Achilles' shield appears slung over the boar's back. The eagle's head at the front of the pole repeats the two attacking eagles at the top of the central panel, and the lion heads on the yoke relate to the numerous savage felines on the car.

While the meaning of the human and animal figures allows for various interpretations, there is a thematic unity and a Homeric quality emphasizing the glory of the hero.

The Artistic Origin of the Chariot

The three panels of the car represent the main artistic achievement. Scholarly opinion agrees that the style of the decoration is strongly influenced by Greek art, particularly that of Ionia and adjacent islands such as Rhodes. The choice of subjects, moreover, reflects close knowledge of the epics recounting the Trojan War. In the extent of Greek influence, the chariot resembles works of virtually all media from Archaic Etruria. Contemporary carved ambers reflect a similar situation.

The typically Etruscan features of the object begin with its function, for chariots were not significant in Greek life of the sixth century B.C. except in athletic contests. Furthermore, iconographical motifs such as the winged horses in Achilles' apotheosis and the plethora of birds of prey reflect Etruscan predilections. The repoussé panels may have been produced in one of the important metal-working centers such as Vulci by a local craftsman well familiar with Greek art or possibly by an immigrant bronze-worker. The chariot could well have been made for an important individual living in southern Etruria or Latium. Its burial in Monteleone may have to do with the fact that this town controlled a major route through the Appenine Mountains. The vehicle could have been a gift to win favor with a powerful local authority or to reward his services.

Beyond discussion is the superlative skill of the artist. His control of the height of the relief, from very high to subtly shallow, is extraordinary. Equally remarkable are the richness and variety of the decoration lavished on all of the figures, especially those of the central panel. In its original state, with the gleaming bronze and painted ivory as well as all of the accessory paraphernalia, the chariot must have been dazzling.

The Reconstruction

After the parts of the chariot arrived in the Museum in 1903, they were assembled in a presentation that remained on view for almost a century. During the new reconstruction, which took three years' work, the chariot was entirely dismantled. A new support was made according to the same structural principles as the ancient one would have been. The reexamination of many pieces has allowed them to be placed in their correct positions. Moreover, the bronze sheathing of the pole, which had been considered only partially preserved, has been recognized as substantially complete.

The main element that has not been reconstructed is the yoke. Although the length is correct, the wooden bar simply connects the two bronze pieces.

ProvenanceFound at Colle del Capitano near Monteleone di Spoleto in 1902 (Scientific American 1903, p. 385; Robinson 1906, p. 83).

 
February 8, 1902, chariot discovered by Isidoro Vannozzi; purchased by Benedetto Petrangeli from Vannozzi; purchased by O. Vitalini from Petrangeli; acquired 1903, purchased from Vitalini, Paris.
Selected BibliographyStuttgarter Antiquitätenzeitung. 1903. No. 51: 404.

"An Etruscan Chariot of 500 B.C." October 18, 1903. New York Tribune: illustrated suppl., 8ff.

Scientific American. November 28, 1903: 311ff.

Furtwängler, A. 1906. "Bronzewagen von Monteleone: New York, Metropolitan Museum." In P. Arndt, Brunn-Bruckmann's Denkmäler griechischer und römischer Sculptur. Vol. 3. Munich: F. Bruckmann, pls. 586, 587.

Robinson, E. 1906. "The Bronze Chariot." MMA Bulletin 1: 82-83.

Richter, G. M. A. 1915. Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 17-29, no. 40.

Bates, W. N. 1919. "Archaeological Discussions." American Journal of Archaeology 23: 184.

Sprenger, M., and G. Bartoloni. 1977. Die Etrusker: Kunst und Geschichte. Munich: Hirmer, p. 114, nos. 105-7, pls. 105-7.

Martelli, M. 1983."Il 'Marte' di Ravenna" in Xenia Antiqua 6: p. 29.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987. Greece and Rome. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 46-47

Emiliozzi, A. 1991. "Sull'Origine del Carro di Monteleone di Spoleto. Una Nouva Impostazione del Problema," in Identità e Civilità dei Sabini. Atti del XVIII Convegno di Studi Etruschi ed Italici. Firenze: 333-337.

Emiliozzi, A. 1991. "The Monteleone Chariot: From Discovery to Restoration." In Antichità dall'Umbria a New York. Milan: Electa; Perugia: Editori Umbri Associati, pp. 113-20, 396-98, no. 1.

Emiliozzi, A. 1991. "Sull'origine del carro di Monteleone di Spoleto: Una nouva impostazione del problema." In Identità e civilità dei sabini: Atti del XVIII Convegno di Studi Etruschi ed Italici. Florence: L. S. Olschki, pp. 333-37.

Born, H and S. Hansen. 1994. Frühgriechische Bronzehelme. Mainz: von Zabern, p. 61 ill. 37.

Cristofani, M. 1996. "Paideia, Arete e Metis: a proposito delle pissidi della Pania" in Prospettiva 83-84: p.8., fig.15-16.

Emiliozzi, A., ed. 1997. Carri da guerra e principi etruschi. Rome: "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, pp. 179-90, 319, no. 87.

Haynes, S. 2000. Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, pp. 167-69, figs. 149a, 149b.

Hedreen, GM. 2001. Capturing Troy: The Narrative Functions of Landscape in Archaic and Early Classical Greek Art. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, p.133.

Picón, C. A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 470-71, no. 323, ill. pp. 278-81.
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Source: Chariot [Etruscan; From Monteleone, Italy] (03.23.1) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art



Clip, save, and join us for an unforgettable treat: a Morning at the Met!!

YAHOO! How much better can it get? See email!@

OH, Lucy you were dead right, I had my Taverns mixed up, thank you!

[Eloise]

YAHOO! How much better can it get?

Better than that I die. Thank you so much Ginny for all the work you do for us, I love it.

[ALF43]

I'm so danged confused now, I don't know which day is which.  Can we put a calendar here at the top to list the choices and the schedule?

[ginny]

I'm so glad it suits, Eloise! I am very excited about it.

Andrea, there is a calendar in the heading?  But the entries look like: Monday 9/13: : Travel Day:  Departure

Do you mean you'd like an actual calendar with blocks? I can do that when the baby leaves.

[ANNIE]

Great solutions, as usual, Ms. Ginny,
I love it.  Those of us at the Leo will arise early and get ourselves riding on the bus or subway(which requires a bus tranfer, the crosstown #49 or #59, can't remember.  Drops one right near the big steps, well a half block walk or so away.

[ginny]

Thank you, Ann, I am so excited to see what they come up with. A super morning.

Hmmm, two cross town busses.  If we do this it will mean an early start for the Met.

We are not using the main steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We are using the entrance to the side on the front?   No steps.

We sort of have this tradition of going on style, as you've seen many have mentioned the limos we've used in the past. Hmmm. I happen to know a super car company, hmmm. Or should we save that for Sarabeths? I'm not much of one to take a million changes to get somewhere but if you guys are game, I'm game too.

Limo to Sarabeth's?


Andrea, this is crude, does it help? Can I do something to it to make more clear which is afternoon or morning? Let me know.

[JoanR]

I think that to get to Sarabeth's by bus is easier than getting to the Metropolitan by bus.  Also we have to be early to the Met from one single starting point  - whereas Sarabeth's is in the afternoon and we might be coming to it from several different directions.  That does sound as if a car is more practical going to the Met!

Just a thought!!!  Whatever we do will be fine!

That little calendar looks nifty.

[Zulema]

Ginny, that chart is perfect and I couldn't have done that in a million years despite working on computers forever.

To clarify, from the Leo House to the Met, take the 8th Ave subway at 23rd St. to the 79th st. station, and change to the 79th St. bus going across the park.  The bus is on 81st St., first street to the North.   Get off at the first stop on the bus, Fifth Avenue, then walk two tiny blocks North and you are at the "Handicapped Entrance," which is for everybody.  That is, if you wish to do that. 

Hope to see you there. 

[ANNIE]

Ginny,
What happened to Pedl'n's visit to the new High Line Park on Saturday? Or is it going to be available on Friday?  I forgot that you'al are going to Ellis Island on Sunday and let Mary make our reservations for a 3pm play on 42nd St.  "Viagra Falls" is the title and its off Broadway but pricey also.

I know we thought about going to the Tenement Museum and its my fault.  I forgot what I mentioned it.  Mea culpa!!  We just changed our plans too fast for my pea brain.  

So Mary and I thinking we will go to the Tenement Museum on Friday afternoon depending on how late it is open.

Another thought would be the 9/11 Memorial Museum that's in downtown Mahattan also.
http://www.national911memorial.org/site/PageServer?pagename=new_Museum_Page

If you want to see a well presented memorial to the 9/11 volunteers, don't miss St Paul's Episcopal Church which sits right across the 9/11 site.  Fantastic meaningful exhibit!

[ginny]

Thank you Joan, and Zulema, I'm glad you like the chart. It was easy to do in Word, Zulema, if you have that? Gosh I sure hope you're coming, can't wait to see you. Once they get back to us, we can then say where we'll all meet since some are coming in from the city on their own.

I am thinking the Met is, as you both seem to  say, harder than Sarabeth's to get to and it's early too. We may have to have a surprise that day too.

I appreciate those directions and have copied them both out, because we may GET there like Kings, but we'll have to get ourselves back, unless we TAXI! But I seem to remember a bus stop right down on the right, as mentioned here, that we can catch to go back.

Ann:

What happened to Pedl'n's visit to the new High Line Park on Saturday? Or is it going to be available on Friday?  I forgot that you'al are going to Ellis Island on Sunday and let Mary make our reservations for a 3pm play on 42nd St.  "Viagra Falls" is the title and its off Broadway but pricey also.

 No, I  think you said earlier that you and Mary had spent a lot of time at Ellis Island, so actually wasn't expecting you then. Sounds like great fun, the play.

I am sorry if I left off Pedln's HighLine Park, what day and time is it, Pedln? I think the Met and Mr. Norris originally took its place, so we need to get it on the schedule or as an alternate, it was hard to tell with the Day 2 stuff, but having written Pedln and Lucy, I discovered it wasn't Lucy's day. The days are up there now, when is the Highline scheduled, Pedln and I'll put it in. Will you take a head count first?

So Mary and I thinking we will go to the Tenement Museum on Friday afternoon depending on how late it is open.  Another thought would be the 9/11 Memorial Museum that's in downtown Mahattan also.

OK how do you want me to indicate this on the chart? The Tenement Museum is currently listed in the heading under:

Additional Possibilities:

The short terms, unscheduled -- High Line Park, with maybe a visit to Chelsea Market nearby, Union Square,  The Strand,  shopping,  Tenement museum, Botanical Gardens, Etaly if open, a Broadway Show, Algonquin or Chelsea Hotels, concerts, opera, bus tour of NYC, etc.


Do you want it to say:

Possible Friday afternoon: Tenement Museum? 9/11 Memorial Museum?

Or?

What else is left off? Seems to be a nice assortment of free time to shop and ride tour busses and scheduled things.

Let me know!

[pedln]

I think I definitely plan to take either taxi or car service to the Metropolitan on Friday morning.  The Leo had a car service they recommend, perhaps they still do.  I looked online, and they weren't real forthcoming with rates, except for airports, but one did show for 1 - 4 passengers $20.   I'm all for taking buses when not concerned about time.

Ann, nothing is "your fault."  We just have so many thoughts and ideas about what we want to do, that it's impossible to get them all in.  I have 4 priorities -- dinner Wed. night, the Met, Sarabeths, and Ellis Island.  Am not sure about the Circle Cruise, delightful as I know it to be.  I've never been to Chelsea Market and will probably tie that into a visit to the High Line Park on Saturday am.

And I'd like to go to the Strand, and there's also a neat Mystery Book Store in Grenwich Village.  And I think it would be fun also to visit one of those Roof top places and sip something while the lights come on in the city.

[Lucylibr]

I went to the Tenement Museum lecture this evening,"Hot Time in the Old Town," with Edward Kohn, a history professor in Ankara, Turkey. It was great--went with old friend Bob and he enjoyed it too and bought the book which I hope to borrow later on. The museum is terrific; although I saw only the shop I was impressed. They have many books and many gifts and novelties, for which they are considered the best gift shop in NYC. I am into calendars and bookmarks, and I found one of women reading as well as bookmark, reading calendars.  I was blown away!  I plan to go back for other lectures, but unfortunately there are none while you are visiting.

I think many of the displays fron St. Paul's have been moved to the new 9/11 museum. Some things I recognized as having been in St. Paul's, and there are new video and photographic displays. If I get a chance I will check St. Paul's and see what's still there.

I am interested in going to the Highline Park, which I will do one of these days when it is cooler and tell you what I find.