February 19, 2020

Let your imagination be the guide through scientific art

I’ve been to The Metropolitan Museum of art a few times. I once received advice from a very close art teacher who told me that art is not only perceived with the eyes or what you observe, instead it is perceived with your imagination. I attended ‘Making Marvels: Science & Splendor at the Courts of Europe’ twice, the first
time on a Friday after finishing classes, which I do not recommend since the museum was crowded and I was exhausted, I wasn’t able to find the exhibition easily and received some little confusing instruction. I only managed to see part of the exhibition and was unable to pay close attention to each piece. The second time I decided to go, I went early in the morning of February 17, since it was a holiday and I could attend right when the museum opened its doors. When I finally found the exhibition, I can say I was really surprised to see the exciting and wonderful creation that can exist between art
and science.

Extravagance, gold and silver, are terms that have been connected with each other throughout history, and this exhibition is an amazing demonstration of this. The exhibition consists of four sections, in which you will be able to find precious metals, luxury tools, and self-moving artifacts that are dated back in history. This exhibition illustrates the greed and ambition to demonstrate power through luxury. As I was entering, the first thing I perceived were the sounds, it was a mixture of clock ticks, cash registers and gears running. It was like entering a world of artifacts and machines, and the first thing you see when entering is a large gold artifact that looked like an antique clock. This big golden artifact was the Planetary Clock (The Imser Clock)1554–1561. I stared at it in detail, his
engravings and the unique figures that were in this majestic clock. I took some close up pictures of its details and the little figures that composed this magnificent and golden artwork.
As I turned right I recognized a text that clearly described the importance of gold and silver over the years, and this gave me a clear idea of what these metals mean for this exhibition. Both metals have almost always symbolized power and wealth. As I walked deep into the exhibition I noticed luxury and ambitious furniture that was used to impress others. Something that really stood up during this exhibition were the creatures used to engrave or to decorate many of the artifacts and the furniture. I saw a pattern of many lions, but also
recognized a few unicorns and pegasus, and I wonder what the designers and the owner of these thought of when they opted to add these creatures to their creations.
As I kept walking, I found more and more technology that it was no longer just simply luxuries for comfort and in order to impress. It was science and technological advances in different fields of science, you can find artifacts that were used in different ways, from astronomy to music. I was really impressed by most of the artifacts and the pieces I found at this exhibition. As I walked towards the end, Isaw one of the most amazing artifacts in the exhibition. It was ‘The Draughtsman-Writer (ca. 1800)’ by Henry Maillardet.
This artifact not only called my attention for the creepy way it looks, but for the amazing
function it has and the year it was created. The artifact with the naked eye looks like a robot with only half of human parts and perhaps with the handle of the figure of a child. The robot has a head with details, including a nose, a mouth, twob eyes, ears , but it only has two hands, a neck and only a part of the left arm. These human parts are made of I believe porcelain. The rest is a robotic torso that unites and maintains the parts of the human body that I’ve already mentioned. This robotic torso sounds a little scary, imagine seeing it for the first time. This torso is on top of a table with a lot of machinery and its function is to write and draw by itself, this artifact was created in 1800, and if we think of it, it sounds kind of crazy. The exhibition has a screen that shows the amazing product generated by this robotic mannequin or “typewriter”. It is impressive to see how in the video this artifact creates a beautiful cursive letter along with some figures and details in a very beautiful and detailed way. This artifact made me think about the meaning it had in this exhibition, since it is a clear example of how art and science have always been connected. As I researched more about this artifact and the creator of it, which is Henri Maillardet, a Swiss mechanic of the 18th century who worked producing clocks and mechanisms. I also found out that this ‘robot’ is actually called an automaton. (CNN Wire, 2014). Not only is an automaton but it’s one of the most complex automaton of its kind. It moves pretty fluid as if his hands were really producing motion
as a pair of human hands.
Lastly I would say, that even though I have visited many exhibitions, I would highly
recommend you guys to visit this one before it is gone. I left me really impressed by the
imagination the designers and creators of those artifacts had, and also by the fact that all this technology was created a long time ago. Another thing that really amazed me was the way the artifacts and furniture excelled in emerging science, technological advances, art, extravagant and luxury that dates back in history.

Citation:
1) CNN. “Why the World’s ‘First Robot’ Still Enchants Us 200 Years on.” CNN Wire, 2014,
pp. CNN Wire, March 12, 2014
Images were all taken by me:
First Image: Diaz, Maria Ximena, a photo collage of different gold and silver metalwork objects
at the exhibition ‘Making Marvels: Science & Splendor at the Courts of Europe’
Second Image: Diaz, Maria Ximena, Photographs close ups and detail of the Planetary Clock
(The Imser Clock)1554–1561. Currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Third Image: Diaz, Maria Ximena, photograph of different objects that embodied unicorn and
lions in metalworks, at the exhibition ‘Making Marvels: Science & Splendor at the Courts of
Europe’
Fourth Image and fifth Image: Diaz, Maria Ximena, collage of different photos of the details
of ‘The Draughtsman-Writer (ca. 1800)’ by Henry Maillardet. Currently exhibit at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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