19th century architectural remnants hiding in today’s Metropolitan Museum of Art
Every week, thousands of people come to see the millions of artifacts on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the city’s treasures for indoor art viewing and outside people watching.
But hidden inside this majestic museum building and its many additions fronting Fifth Avenue from 79th to 84th Streets are some fascinating architectural artifacts. They’re not officially on exhibit, nor do they come with captions explaining their origins.
These are the remnants of the museum’s first incarnation as a much smaller Romanesque- and Gothic-style structure dating back to 1879—nine years after a group of citizens decided Gotham needed a world-class art museum, then put plans in place to make it happen.
The museum’s original facade, seen in this 1880 photo at top, is one such architectural fragment. This first museum building was designed by Calvert Vaux, co-creator of Central Park, and Jacob Wray Mould, the man behind many of Central Park’s buildings and features.
Blocked from view in the early 1900s—apparently when Richard Morris Hunt’s Beaux-Arts limestone design was constructed in front of it and became the museum’s Neo-classical entrance (above, 1905)—the southern side of the old facade is now visible in the Robert Lehman Wing.
A small piece of the original facade, in the form of a “banded-granite pointed arch,” per a 2010 museum post, can be viewed near the top of the grand staircase on the second floor beside the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery.
These Victorian Gothic staircases (note the gorgeous florals on the staircase column!) are also survivors inside the contemporary museum. Originally part of the 1879 building, they were restored in 1995, according to the 2010 post. (During my visit, they were also blocked off to visitors.)
Recognize these brick arches under the grand staircase (below)? They make for a wonderfully evocative exhibit space for Byzantine art. But they used to be part of Richard Morris Hunt’s 1902 entrance pavilion, per a second museum post from 2010.
If you were a museum visitor after 1888, you would be greeted by a new southern wing (below postcard), designed by architect Theodore Weston. With its three enormous arched windows framed by limestone and red brick, Weston’s wing complemented Vaux and Mould’s original building.
Eventually, as the museum continued to expand, the facade of Weston’s wing became an interior wall. Where can you view it today? Head to the Carroll and Milton Petrie Sculpture Court, where its beauty is on full display.
It’s worth noting that the Met’s collection contains several artifacts from New York City’s architectural past. The facade of an 1822 bank building on Wall Street forms one wall of Charles Englehard Court. A column from LaGrange Terrace, aka Colonnade Row on Lafayette Street, is also on view in the American Wing, per a 2021 museum post.
The Gilded Age interior of the Arabella Worsham/Laura and John D. Rockefeller house, formerly at 4 West 54th Street, is also on exhibit.
But for additional glimpses of the original museum hiding inside the contemporary Metropolitan Museum of Art, don’t look for caption cards—just keep your eyes peeled.
[Top image: MCNY, X2010.11.4938; third image: NYPL]
