AP Trip: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Leave a commentApril 13, 2017 by mrcaseyhistory
Student Tour Guide Presentations
For our trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2nd, each student must research on of the following pieces and prepare a three to five minute presentation on the piece to give to the rest of the class. Essentially, you will be acting as a tour guide, with an expertise on the piece you are discussing. It does not need to be overly formal or scripted, but it should be well-prepared and detailed. While you will be graded on your presentation rather than on a written assignment, you are welcome to turn in your notes as additional evidence. I have provided a variety of links to video and text resources further below. Clicking on the name of the piece will take you to the catalog page for the piece on the Met website.
For your presentation, you will need to discuss each of the following in your presentations…
Subject Explanation: What is being depicted or represented in this piece? Simply put; what are we looking at?
Historical Context: When and where was this made? What purpose did it serve? What is the larger cultural world within which this piece was created, and how does that help us gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the piece?
Artistic Analysis: What should we note about how the piece was created? What significant features does it have? Is there anything noteworthy about the history of the piece itself? You can mention any other important information here.
Depending on the piece, you may find you want to spend more time on one category than another, depending on what is most relevant, but be sure to touch on all three. Also, for some of the pieces, I gave specific notes below, so make sure to consider those as well.
Presentation Assignments
Since each student must present on a different piece, I have to assign a piece to you. While I will try to honor your preferences, I cannot make any guarantees. Please email me directly with your first, second, and third choices from the list below and I will post the final list below when available.
Media Consent Forms
Even if you have already done so at another point this year, please have the media consent form signed by a parent to have on file so that we can take pictures and video clips of our trip and your presentations. If you would prefer not have your picture taken, please write that on the form and we will make sure not to include you in any pictures.
Museum Exhibits
Region: Ancient Near East
Met Essay Assyrian Sculpture Court
Region: Ancient Near East
Definitely make sure to situate this piece within the broader context of the Ishtar Gate from which it came.
Region: Ancient Egypt
Met Essay Egypt in the Middle Kingdom
Region: Ancient Egypt
Met Essay Egypt in the Middle Kingdom
Region: Ancient Greece
Met Essay Greek Art in the Archaic Period
Met Essay Art of Classical Greece
Be sure to highlight the connections both to the past in Ancient Egypt and to the future in Classical Greece.
Region: Ancient Greece
Met Essay Athenian Vase Painting
Met Essay Art of Classical Greece
This piece is an example to focus on but I would like you to talk about the pottery in general as well, explaining the technique (red-figure vs black-figure), and discussing some of the themes. There will be plenty of other examples around in the same gallery.
Region: Late Republican Rome
While this room is not from Pompeii, connections can be made. Among other things, I would like to hear about the type of people who would have lived in a villa like this.
Region: Byzantine Empire
Met Essay Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium
In addition to the video, be sure to check out the essay above. While it need not be the primary focus, I would like to hear some mention of the controversy within the Orthodox Church around the debated issue of icons and idolatry.
Region: Post-Classical India
Met Essay Hinduism and Hindu Art
I would like you to focus primarily on this piece, but you can certainly make observations about some of the surrounding pieces as well to draw general connections. Hopefully there will be some coins to point out. If not, you can still mention it.
Region: Post-Classical China
Met Essay Chinese Buddhist Sculpture
Met Essay Buddhism and Buddhist Art
I would like you to focus on this particular sculpture while also making some general observations about the other sculptures in the room. If possible, I’d like you to mention some ways in Chinese buddhist sculpture differs from non-Chinese Buddhist sculpture, as we will be looking briefly at other examples along the way.
Chinese Blue and White Porcelain
Region: Ming China
Good example piece but there will be many others around in this gallery, so you can speak specifically and generally.
Point out how it has been imitated by Persian and European artists
We will not immediately go to see these imitative pieces, but you can mention that you will point them out later when we are nearby. Mark them on your map so we can see them briefly when we are close.
Region: Feudal Japan
Met Essay Art of the Edo Period
Find some cool little observations of your own by looking at the image up close that you can share while presenting.
Region: Post-Classical Persia/Central Asia
Wikipedia on Story of Layla and Majnun
While the focus should not be primarily on the story being depicted, it would be nice to hear a bit about the story to help us see how this image fits.
Region: In the style of Post-Classical Morocco
Met Video (so cool)
Video on Arabic Calligraphy in General
I would like you to point out some of the unique features and explain how it was constructed and how it differs from what the real thing would be like.
Region: Post-Classical Iran
Video on Arabic Calligraphy in General
Be sure to identify examples of calligraphy, arabesque, and geometric designs as we discussed in class. Also, make sure you are able to explain what at least some of the calligraphy says.
Region: Early Modern Africa
Video clip on history of Benin Bronzes
Video on debate over African Art
You can see how the art and the culture cannot be disconnected from the history
Region: Ancient Mesoamerica
Met Essay Ancient American Jade
Region: Colonial Spanish South America
Met Essay Art of the Spanish Americas
Wikipedia on Crown of the Andes
The Met also has a video on Pre-Columbian Gold which points out that the gold objects created by the Spanish would have been made from the melted down remains of Pre-Columbian native gold art. I think it would be cool to bring that up in a room surrounded by many such pieces.
mrcaseyhistory 