Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland Museum of Art has more than 40,000 works of art in its collection that span 5,000 years. It is one of the few art museums in the world that are free. The Wade Oval lake in front of the museum is truly beautiful.


The Thinker greets you at the museum entrance. The Thinker is one of Auguste Rodin's most famous bronze sculptures. It was damaged by a bomb set off by unknown vandals in 1970s, they were never caught. The sculpture was left unrepaired as a reminder of human cruelty and how precious the works of art are. This figure was one of the last casted under Rodin's direct supervision.


Cleveland winter skyline; Not much sun here as you can see

Let's enter the museum...

European art


Byzantine mosaic; Roman Guarding Griffin

This European art mosaic, actually, is thought to come from a church floor in Syria (5th century) which is in Asia. This mosaic belonged to a pavement illustrating the Garden of Eden. You can see a grape harvester with a peacock.

Read more about Roman culture in Wikipedia


Ancient Greek Art - A Goat Figure (2 c. BC)

Read more about the Art in Ancient Greece in Wikipedia

Medieval & Armor Court. The Armor Court is a magnificent collection of art pieces from the age of knighthood.

African and Egyptian Art


Female and male faces; Egyptian noble man, The Pharaoh

The male face is of king Amenhotep III of Egypt. His reign was long and peaceful. The sculpture shows this youthful ruler with characteristic large, almond-shaped eyes and prominent upper lip. (Actually, both faces belong to the king Amenhotep III but the first one just looks very feminine)

The male with the baboon (the noble man) is Minemheb, one of the court officials of Amenhotep III. This statue commemorates Amenhotep's 30 years of rule. Minemheb was the chief of construction for the jubilee temple Amenhotep III. The baboon is actually the god Thoth. This figure was carved in extremely hard granodiorite, and most likely was a present from the king to Minemheb.

Read more about the History of Ancient Egypt in Wikipedia

Middle East


Islamic art - a prayer niche

This niche initially was dated from 1500 but further analysis showed that it was of much more recent origin - 1960s. Ceramic mosaics decorate many old buildings in Iran and modern craftsmen are skilled in their repair. Most likely some of them recreated this niche in a historical style. Not everything that looks ancient is truly ancient...

Read more about Islamic art by BBC, Wikipedia

References:
World Art History from Wikipedia
Cleveland Museum of Art
360° panoramic view - Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland
Armor Court - 360° panoramic view - Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland
Cleveland Museum of Art prepares to come back on view. Plain Dealer Art Critic, 06/2008.

Updated: 06/23/2008