On Monday, November 19, 2018, I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to check out their new exhibition called “Jewelry: The Body Transformed.” The room was dim with black painted walls with glass columns from the ceiling to the floor with a piece of jewelry inside. This exhibition is all about jewelry, why wear it, and what its meaning is throughout history. They had 5 areas themed for something else such as the divine body, the regal body, the transcendent body, the alluring body, and the resplendent body. It wasn’t necessarily organized by time, but by theme, which was nice for a change. Jewelry is known to be an ancient form art that has enhanced and embellished the human body. Each area had to do what jewelry was attributed to. From the earliest time, it was attributed to the gods. Eventually, it was something that became appealing to the eye and became like a piece of clothing. Throughout history, jewelry has been something that helped others understand the culture of that time. I recognized the names of famous designers of some of the pieces such as Swarovski and Cartier.

 

The Seductive Pearl

Five strand pearl necklace

Cartier (French, founded in 1847)

Made in London, ca. 1926

 

The piece that stuck out to me most had to be the pearl necklace from the Alluring body area. Pearls are my favorite type of jewelry. Also, the company Cartier stuck out to me. Pearls in history were known to be as an erotic accessory. This idea faded in the era of post World War 2. 

This exhibition is my by far my favorite that I ever went to. It was interesting to learn about the meaning of pieces of jewelry in different eras. It gave me the opportunity to learn about cultures were like and comparing it to what it’s like nowadays. I never looked at it as a form of art until I went to this exhibition. I now look at jewelry as something that unites body and art. Overall, I had an enjoyable time looking at the beautiful pieces at this exhibition.