Exquisite ... What emerges is a beautiful tale about beauty. It is also a tale about grief, balancing solitude and comradeship, and finding joy in both the exalted and the mundane.
In the pantheon of winning books about the Met, it is right up there ... Bringley offers an unusual, insider's vantage point on this vast palace of art ... it's Bringley's reflections on dozens of individual paintings, photographs, sculptures, and ancient artifacts that elevate this memoir into a paean to the power of art.
Graced with a list of all the artworks he was enraptured by and an excellent bibliography, this is a profound homage to the marvels of a world-class museum and a radiant chronicle of grief, perception, and a renewed embrace of life.
If these musings sometimes fail to stir us, the accompanying illustrations by McMahon strike just the right balance between simplicity and emotional complexity. Readers seeking sophisticated insights into the inner workings of the Met should look elsewhere, but Bringley offers enough interesting backstories to keep the pages turning ... An emotionally cathartic stroll through the hallowed halls of a beloved institution.
