Maggie's Farm

The Met's Own Mona Lisa

Recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for about 45 million, this 11"X8" Duccio, c. 1300, Madonna and Child,�is one of the most dramatic and important acquisitions by the Met in decades.

Calvin Tompkins explains why, in The New Yorker.� A sample: "We are at the beginning of what we think of as Western art; elements of the Byzantine style still linger�in the gold background, the Virgin�s boneless and elongated fingers, and the child�s unchildlike features�but the colors of their clothing are so miraculously preserved, and the sense of human interaction is so convincing, that the two figures seem to exist in a real space, and in real time."

And�he covers the interesting�provenance of the painting.

(Sorry - you cannot go and see it - �it's undergoing minor renovations right now but will be back on display "soon".) Note the ancient candle burn-marks on the frame - they will remain.