Submitted by Sir Joshua, Apr 18, 2007 11:56

Now that the Met's new Greek & Roman wing is opening this week we can see the mass of treasures (and yes, some boaring bits) that the Met has squirrelled away in it's basement for the past 40 years. What struck me most was the amazing influence Classical art had on artists such as Maillol, Nadelman, et al. which is obvious in several examples now on display. Just think of all the influence Classical art has not had because of it's being stored away for decades. The Met's basement is small change compared to the works beintg excavated in Italy on literally a daily bases. Once those pieces get sent to a sub-sub basement in an obscure Rome museum, chiuso on all but the third Thursday afternoon between 2 and 4 we can beging to understand how much better these works are out in the open market, in the care of private collectors. I also noted a number of long term loans from private collections in the G & R galleries. Objects which had recently passed through auction and were now out for the public to admire and learn from. Those classes of teenagers seated on the floor with their drawing pads WILL add up to something in our future. Italy has an ego because of it's Greco-Roman past and we are now the worlds super power and they are ticked off about it. Keep that thought in mind, because that is the genesis of our relationship problem with them. Simple but true. Frankly we should keep the Kalyx crater. We got it in pieces and restored it to it's original glory. Besides they have 3 or 4 other pieces by Euphronious and this is the only one in NYC (I believe).

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