'The Mourners' at the Met

In the group of artists with whom I associate, everybody is talking about the show of drawings by Bronzino at the Met. It is an unusual and perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime show that brings together all of the 70 or so drawings known by this artist.

OK, I did see the show but maybe I'm a bit jaded, or maybe it's because I've been looking at reproductions of many of these drawings for years. Maybe it was that stuffy, claustrophobic, dark room where the Met holds all of its drawing shows, but I was not as excited as I expected to be.

The show that DID excite me is on the first floor in the Met's Medieval Galleries and it's simply called "The Mourners." The mourners in question are a series of 37 or so alabaster sculptures created by Jean de la Huerta and Antoine Le Moiturier for the base of the tomb of John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy. They were created in the mid-15th century and most are in exquisite condition after 560 years.

Part of the charm experienced when viewing these sculptures is that they are each only about 16 inches tall. Another part of the magic is the dramatic manner in which the Met has lit them. Follow this link to the Met's description the show and look for the further link there to the FRAME display online which will allow viewers to rotate each of these little masterpieces 360 degrees.