Textiles, Jade and Small Sculpture in Bronze.

We now take the elevator at the end of the gallery near where we entered, and ascend to the second floor.

Turning to the right, galleries E 10, 9, and 8 are devoted to the textile collections.4 There are wonderful pieces of point lace and the finest collection of Brussels lace outside of Belgium.

For those specially interested in the textiles there is a study room with thousands of examples which may be handled at leisure.

Going straight ahead we can see the jade room, gallery 4 and pass thence to corridor 2. Or we can see the special exhibition, which is changed from time to time, in E 11.

This leads through the Persian galleries E 13 and 14, where we can enjoy the delightful color in the alcove, look at the manuscripts' and pass through room 3, with its rugs, to corridors 2 and 1. Those who have seen enough for one day can take the elevator here to the main door.

Corridor 9, at the left of the main stairway, is devoted to small sculpture in bronze by American artists. At our immediate left is the bronze group, "Sun Vow" (ill. no. 8), by H. A. MacNeil, which shows an old Indian initiating a youth into one of the tribal ceremonies.

The marble relief at the far end of the corridor, by D. C. French, is the central section of the "Melvin Memorial" and depicts a mourning Victory wrapped in an American flag, which she lifts from her face with one hand while with the other she holds out a branch of laurel.

At the head of the main stairway stands the bronze "Portrait of a Roman Boy" (ill. no. 34), a Greek work of the first century B.C.

The rarity of bronze statues of this period and the high quality and beautiful preservation of this specimen make it one of the most valuable bronzes in the Museum's rich collection and it is one of the best portrait statues of its period in existence. The sculptor's fine artistic sense is shown in the graceful pose, the boyish charm, and the effective contrast between the nude torso and the drapery about the lower limbs.

Go To Next Page