New York was in full throttle today, so I thought I’d share some of what is happening. I spent last night in Darien, Conn. for a family get together (Happy Anniversary! Happy Birthdays!) The train rolled into the station this morning, packed to the gills with young folks decked out and heading to the city for Pride festivities. I had to make the entire 65 minute trip standing, which was not great, but it went by quickly with a podcast and people watching. Grand Central was a mob scene and I finally made it back to my apartment for a quick turn to head back out to the museum. The subway was filled with more revelers and several police officers as I headed two stops downtown. I encountered a lively street fair at Amsterdam and 79th and a packed farmer’s market at 81st and Columbus. As I walked into the park, there was a Bruno Mars type of singer on guitar with a drummer and a crowd watching them, softball happening on the Great Lawn, many, many people sunbathing, the usual saxophone player under the arch and a really good jazz quartet who has a regular gig by the statue of the bears, almost to 5th Avenue. As you might imagine, the Met was crowded, too on this hot, sunny Pride Sunday.

Both the Arms and Armor and Musical Instruments galleries offer a history of the world if one wants to engage with it that way. I wasn’t in a history of the world mood after my travels today, so I took a more holistic approach. Weapons and musical instruments have a lot in common in that they both serve a practical purpose – they do something – they are beautiful to behold in some cases, they confer status on the wearer or player or owner, and they can be symbolic. Both music and weapons existed before the written word: music to pass down narratives and weapons to hunt and defend. There is so much in these galleries and I won’t even pretend to do more than touch on what made an impression on me today, which was a lot! 

The Met has helmets and swords from the Stone, Iron, and Bronze ages and were noted as being (as weapons are today) both tools and symbols of power by their mere possession. The Bronze age introduced the technology of molten bronze, which allowed objects to be made in a series, such as ax heads.

I’ve always loved the Armor galleries, completely fascinated by the fashion aspects of the armor. Which sounds bonkers, but it was a thing! For instance early European armor (13th-15th century) was more in what is described as the Gothic style, but then the Germans introduced what came to be known as the Maximallian style, more bulbous in shape. The detail on the armor was exquisite and it is so heavy – 50 pounds in some cases! The embossed gorget was especially pretty. I was also quite taken by the Italian sallet in the shape of a lion’s head. They armored up the horses, too. Beautiful and intimidating. The German tournament or calvary shield was also stunning, and reads: take me as I am. All of this heavy armor was used for tournaments, for fun, or for the field, actual battle, not as fun. The Armor for the Joust of Peace of Philip I of Castile with Blinding Shaffron and Shield is an example of what a teenager would be trained to joust on. I think of the Joust of Peace like flag football. It’s still football, just not as dangerous. 

Of course, as weaponry became more sophisticated, what with guns (the first self-igniting, wheellock firearms invented around 1500), bombs, and chemical warfare, metal armor became a mute point. Just men in their clothes. Which led me to the gun rooms. I was not keen on the gun rooms, but enjoyed overhearing a young man ex(mans)plain everything about guns to his date, and two young boys come running in: “Niiiiiice. I want one of these.” “This one’s mine!” “This one’s mine!” And they commence racing around the gallery finger shooting one another. I did see a 77 inch rifle that was originally meant for hunting but apparently was carried around during the Revolutionary War. A very long gun. Napoleon had fancy guns. Fancy guns for a fancy man.

The most gorgeous armor and weaponry on display is from all over Asia. The 18th century Japanese Gusoku armor is, well, in the words of a Gen Z dude: “Aw that’s scary! That’s sick! That’s cool as fuck.” Everything from the Edo period: the Cuirass; the samurai swords, and especially the mountings. There was an intricately woven mail shirt from the Qatar period (1816-17), probably from India, inscribed with “Prayer to Ali” as a protection. A ceremonial saddle inlaid with mother of pearl from the Qing dynasty. Another saddle from Tibet, covered with metals, gold, turquoise, and textile.

The land and sea routes of the Silk Road that spanned from 130 B.C. to 1453 A.D., carried many commercial goods, certainly weapons and armor, but also philosophical and religious as well as artistic and musical ideas. The newly refurbished Musical Instruments gallery is also somewhat organized in historical order, but also by type of instrument to allow the viewer to see the evolution of the technology of the craft of making the instruments to make music. 

Some of what is on display had a personal resonance for me, such as Benny Goodman’s clarinet (I am a superfan); a mandolin from 1898; and a banjo from 1884 (my son plays Bluegrass). I was fascinated by the Chinese Yangqin from the 19th century, an early predecessor to the dulcimer as well as the Portuguese Rajão, a fish shaped stringed instrument that was brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese sailors and inspired the creation of the ukulele. For status, I give you the long trumpet from the Ming Dynasty. For fun, there is a huge case of brass instruments, with a conch shell, the OG trumpet hanging in the middle. 

To return to the idea of music preceding the written word, I was captivated by an 18th century West African Bala, essentially a xylophone made from gourd, hide, and spider’s egg-casing membrane (!!!). It was used in jeli traditions, oral history, story-telling, and praise singing. Here is a carving from Mali depicting that happening. 

These two exhibits taken together reinforce how all of the art I have been exposed to at the Met so far highlights the complexity of the human experience: capable of so much brutality and so much beauty, and using it all to tell stories about ourselves and our people.