Tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A photo by Courtney K. from one of our first VIP Sunday Morning Tours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Talking about the famous and amazing Lady Grace.

This is a 17th century robotic drinking game. No joke.

*FEATURED WORK FROM THE MUSEUM’S COLLECTION*

Diana and the Stag by Joachim Friess, ca. 1620

Imagine it’s 1620 and you’re at a super VIP soiree….it’s fancy and all but the music sucks and the drinks are weak. Your host needs to pick up the energy so they reach for this gadget, pop the stag’s head off and fill its hollow body with the strongest booze they can find.

They then set it down, wind it up, and send it zigzagging across the table. It lands in front of you and you know that means it’s time to chug (it ALL). Rinse and repeat. PARTY SAVED.

More official info at http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/120008332

For more information about our VIP tours of the Met, see us at www.HackTheMet.com

She said yes! CONGRATS to Scott and Jen from California who got engaged in the Great Hall after last night’s Hack the Met tour. Photos by Brandon King.

Where to Hook Up at the Cloisters.
The best places to make out in the museum.

* FEATURED WORK FROM THE MUSEUM’S COLLECTION *

Beauty Revealed
by Sarah Goodridge  (1788–1853)

Call it sexting circa 1828, this little beauty is a self-portrait created by the artist Sarah Goodridge for her longtime secret lover, the US Senator Daniel Webster.

Typical portrait miniatures were often given as tokens of affection, serving as loving reminders of distant loved ones to be kept close and treasured.

Taking that tradition to an extreme, Goodridge (a miniaturist by profession) painted this work at the age of 40 to amp up the volume of what must have already been a pretty steamy affair. Over 20 years of letters chronicle their relationship, during which Webster was married not once, but twice. Saucy.

While the Met chooses to not always display this piece, you can see many other stellar examples of American Portrait Miniatures in Gallery 754 in the American Wing at the museum.

Link to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s page on the piece: http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/20015115

For more information about our VIP tours of the Met, see us at www.HackTheMet.com

These groups were organized last Friday night by Derrick, a new tour guide that is training with us. Hack The Met!

(via petervidani)

Q: What does this Elizabeth Hurley picture have to do with the Metropolitan Museum of Art?

A: This famous “safety pin dress” is an awesome example of PUNK: Chaos to Couture.

We’ll post more notes soon from the Apollo Circle talk tonight by Andrew Bolton, Curator in The Costume Institute.