Watch three short animations installed in the Met's European Paintings galleries to discover the unique characteristics of Italian, Spanish, and Netherlandish gothic altarpieces.
GOTHIC VISIONS
Watch as a fifteenth-century Italian altarpiece is reconstructed using polyptych panels from the Met's collection as well as fragments from other museums. This video features Madonna and Child with Saints by Giovanni di Paolo.
BIBLICAL STORYTELLING
Learn how this fifteenth-century Netherlandish altarpiece would have been used in its original devotional context. This video features The Nativity by the Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden.
HEAVEN AND HELLFIRE
Learn about the use of gilding and composition in this fifteenth-century Spanish altarpiece, The Trinity Adored by All Saints.
GALLERY PRESENTATION
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's galleries for its world-renowned collection of European Old Master paintings from the thirteenth through the early nineteenth century reopened in 2013 after an extensive renovation and reinstallation. This is the first major renovation of the galleries since 1951.
The animations were called out in a review by the New York Times:
"Here the Met makes an effort, through video animations, to suggest the performative nature of church art. The videos are a fairly radical step for a museum that generally steers clear of such contextualization in its permanent galleries. But their use is long overdue as a way to give an accurate and realistic view of religious objects gathered here."
– Holland Cotter, art critic
PROJECT
Produced for The Metropolitan Museum of Art's New Installation of the European Paintings Galleries in 2013.
FORMAT AND PRESENTATION
Custom interactive video player app running on iPads; videos available online.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Creative director: Paco Link
Producer: Rachel Rothbaum
Production coordinator and editor: Staci Hou