Upcoming Museum Events

in the New York City Area

At the Nassau County Museum of Art

An exhibition of paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, including (among others) the paintings Netherlandish Proverbs, Seven Acts of Mercy, The Wedding Dance in the Open Air, Peasants Merrymaking, and The Bird Trap. Through November 4. Some of these paintings have never before been shown on the East Coast, so see them now!

At the Cloisters

Saturdays at The Cloisters

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Special Exhibitions at the Met

Sept 20, 2005 - Jan 3, 2006

Prague, the Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437 Some 200 stunning examples including panel paintings, goldsmiths' work, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, silk embroideries, and stained glass. These little-known masterpieces attest to the wide-ranging achievements of the hundreds of artists affiliated with Prague and the Bohemian crown during the reign of Charles IV and his two sons, Wenceslas IV and Sigismund. The exhibition draws on numerous collections in the Czech Republic as well as other European and American collections.

Feb 15, 2005 - Jan 15, 2006

The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480-1620

Oct 26, 2005 - Jan 29, 2006

Fra Angelico (fl. 1410-1455). Approximately 75 paintings, drawings, and manuscript illuminations covering all periods of the artist's career, from ca. 1410 to 1455. Included will be several new attributions and paintings never before exhibited publicly, as well as numerous reconstructions of dispersed complexes, some reunited for the first time. An additional 45 works by Angelico's assistants and closest followers will illustrate the spread and continuity of his influence into the second half of the 15th century.

Dec 13, 2005 - Mar 5, 2006

Antonello da Messina: Sicily's Renaissance Master (ca. 1430-1479). Three masterpieces never before seen in the U.S. -- The Virgin Annunciate, Portrait of a Man, and the double-sided Ecce Homo/Madonna and Child with a Praying Franciscan Donor -- join the Met's own Portrait of a Young Man, Christ Crowned with Thorns, and the double-sided Ecce Homo/St Jerome.

April 4, 2006 - July 2, 2006

Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet

Sept. 26, 2006 - Feb. 18, 2007

Facing the Middle Ages, a collection of medieval heads (sculpture, reliquaries, etc.)

Lectures and Films at the Met

There are far more of these than I can keep up with; see the Met Calendar and search for the categories, locations, and times of day that work for you. Most are free with Museum admission, but some evening lecture series are not.

However, I'll mention this one:

Feb. 19, 2006

The Battle of Orlando and Rinaldo for the Love of Angelica, a one-hour performance by the Argento Puppet Company from Sicily. Performed twice, at 1 PM and 3 PM; 250 seats each performance, first come first served.

Followed at 4 PM by a lecture, Knights in Shining Armor, Damsels in Distress: An Exploration of the Sicilian Puppet Theater, by Arthur Holmberg, literary director of the American Repertory Theatre and associate professor of theatre arts, Brandeis University.

All three events are at the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium.

At the Frick Collection

through Dec 31, 2005

Memling's Portraits: thirty portraits by the master and his school, including wings from diptychs and triptychs as well as stand-alone portraits. This is the only US venue for the show.

Oct 31, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006

Cimabue and Early Italian Devotional Painting, two painted panels from a life of Christ by Cimabue (c. 1240-c. 1302),, accompanied by altarpieces, manuscripts, and glass works contemporary with them.

At the New York Public Library

through Feb. 11, 2006

100 9th-16th-century illuminated manuscripts from the NYPL collection

through Apr 9, 2006

Treasured Maps a collection of maps from the 16th century to the present, with particular emphasis on 17th-century Dutch mapmakers.

Through Aug. 31, 2006

the Lenox Gutenberg Bible

At the New York Academy of Medicine

Sept. 27, 2005 - Jan. 16, 2006: Holes in the Head: Mending Head Injuries from Pericles to Bonaparte, an exhibition of medical treatises dealing with head wounds. The exhibit includes, among other works, the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, a transcription from 1600 BCE of a much older document.

Out of town...

At the Walters in Baltimore

Through Feb. 12, 2006: Sacred Arts and City Life: the Glory of Medieval Novgorod features c. 290 objects tracing the material and artistic culture of Novgorod from the 9th-16th centuries. Items include musical instruments, jewelry, ecclesiastical textiles, icons, and archaeological finds in wood, bone, leather, and birch bark. This is the only U.S. venue for the exhibition. See the exhibit Web site for more information.

Web Sites for Past Exhibitions

A Telling of Wonders: Teratology in Western Medicine through 1800

an exhibition at NYPL in 2004?

Fit for a King: Courtly manuscripts, 1380-1450

an exhibition at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, 2004.

Mechanical Marvels: Invention in the Age of Leonardo

Drawings, working models, and interactive computer animations of many of the inventions of Brunelleschi (including the winches and hoists he invented to build his famous Dome), Leonardo da Vinci, and their contemporaries.

Leonardo's Codex Leicester

A manuscript in Leonardo da Vinci's hand, largely on topics we would now call civil or mechanical engineering.

The Nature of Diamonds

Diamonds don't seem to have been used much in medieval Europe, but this exhibit included a few fine examples, as well as splendid artifacts from the Renaissance through the 20th century.