It’s a subtle thing that we usually don’t notice

When we visit a museum or even when we think about a musuem it’s much like this. There are art works on display. This is expected.

St. Louis Art Museum

And you probably noticed that museums are very aware of spaces, walkways, doorways and the overall areas within the building. A good example of this awareness is how works of art are carefully placed across rooms. Like this. And it is quite wonderful. It allows you to experience the works in an almost tactile way.

But there is another, subtler, thing about museums that I love. It is the secret little things they place in an inconspicuous way. These are things you wouldn’t notice unless you really were taking your time and looking intently at everything.

A good example is this marble screen in the Detroit Institute of Art. It is subtly placed there after a doorway. So, you instinctively just put your hand on it as you are walking through. Not realizing it dates back to around 700 to 800.

Isn’t it beautiful?

And here is another sublime example. This Painting is in the Detroit Institute of Art and it is on the ceiling. I would imagine that it is missed by a lot of people. Just because there is so much amazing stuff to see at eye level. (The Painting is: The Dreams of Men)

The Dreams of Men by Tintoretto

And to cap this whole article off I have to talk about the Museum that is in itself a museum! The whole thing is an actual museum. It is the Cloisters in New York City. It’s a subsidiary of The MET. And the buildings themselves are made up of Medieval buildings like Cloisters and Monasteries that were purchased in Europe, disassembled, shipped over to New York and built into an actual musuem.

The Cloisters itself is a museum. The cloister in The Cloisters.

I have thrown a lot at you. It actually can be difficult to spot these things when walking through a museum. Every museum has so much to offer. The priceless art is literally hanging on all the walls. But, I think that the next time you visit a museum try to be aware that there is actually a lot more going on than is immediately obvious. So, take your time and look at as much as you can but also be aware of the wonderful surprises that are also there.