Treasures of the Met in New York

Some museums feel like mausoleums. Cold, sterile and reverent in the worst sense of the word. But the Met? A glorious warehouse of stolen gods, battered samurai armor, Egyptian death masks and enough marble nudes to make a bishop faint. It’s not so much a museum as a time machine cobbled together by looters with good taste and deep pockets.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue in the epicenter of New York. Once you step inside, you’re suddenly in another world.

The Contemporary section features artwork by Kiefer, Pollock and more. After passing sculptures by Rodin, probably my favorite sculptor, you enter a long stretch of amazing paintings by Degas, Caravaggio, Munch, Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso and more which never seems to end.

Roaming through the massive European paintings gallery.

It’s no wonder that the movie character Thomas Crown tried to steal a Monet from here (even though I have to say that the really good Monets are over at MoMa, the Museum of Modern Art). The Pierce Brosnan remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” from 1999 was not filmed at the museum though, since the Met didn’t want any association with a movie featuring art theft, so the producers had to recreate the halls in a closed set.

Well, hello there (Eternal Spring by Auguste Rodin, 1907).

The Islamic Art collection is reached through the Assyrian gate where a pair of winged guardians hold a silent vigil. The exhibition features a beautiful blue mihram from Esfahan, large Persian carpets and beautiful calligraphy.

This looks comfy (Koç family galleries with Ottoman carpet from Sultan Süleyman’s reign).

Arms and Armor features knights frozen mid-charge in full plate armor, Japanese swords from the Edo period, Buddha heads that were “relocated” from their rightful resting places, and much more.

We are the knights who say NI (16th century medieval German full plate armor).

The Asian wing is among the largest collection of Asian art in the US, spanning 4000 years. It even features an outdoor garden replica.

The Egyptian Art section features the Sphinx of Hatshepsut (nose included) next to the impressive Temple of Dendur from 15 B.C., where a scene from the 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally” was shot.

Did you lock the car or not? (Ugolino and His Sons by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, 1867).

Every object here has a story. Most involve conquest, colonization, or some rich bastard’s checkbook. But they endure, like cultural ghosts, whispering tales of empires and artisans, of war and worship.

But history aside, the Met is one of the greatest things in NYC and perfect for a rainy day. Just bring good shoes and a lot of time on your hands.