Doors

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It's wonderful where the door isn't just something that leads you between places, but is something unto itself.

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  • Daniel Kershaw
    1280852
  • The Temple of Dendur  |  Roman period, ca. 15 b.c.  |  Egyptian; Dendur, Nubia  |  Sandstone  |  Given to the United States by Egypt in 1965, awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967, and installed in The Sackler Wing in 1978 (68.154)
    12801009
  • Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa: From the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo  |  Edo period, 1856  |  Ando Hiroshige (Japanese)  |  Oban format, woodblock print; ink and color on paper  |  The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936 (JP2519)
    7201024
  • Elijah Boardman  |  1789  |  Ralph Earl (American)  |  Oil on canvas  |  Bequest of Susan W. Tyler, 1979 (1979.395)
    6511024
  • Interior with a Hanging Lamp  |  1899  |  Édouard Vuillard (French)  |  Color lithograph  |  Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925 (25.70.23)
    8461024
  • Galleries for Oceanic Art  |  The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    1280853
  • The Leon Levy and Shelby White Court: The Roman Court  |  The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    12411024
  • The Leon Levy and Shelby White Court: The Roman Court, facing Galleries for Oceanic Art  |  The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    7601024
  • Ceiling for a Ceremonial House  |  1970 and 1973  |  Kwoma painters, Mariwai village (active early 1970s)  |  Sago petioles, paint  |  Purchase, Rogers Fund and Mr. and Mrs. David Nash and Anonymous Gifts, 1975 (1975.372.1–.139)  |  The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Mrs. Gertrud A. Mellon Gift, and Mr. and Mrs. Alan Brandt Gift in Memory of Jacob J. Brandt, 1974 (1978.412.1576–.1698)
    6811024
  • Jaharis Gallery for Byzantine Art  |  The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    6441024
  • Byzantine Crypt  |  The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    12531024
  • Mastaba Tomb of Perneb  |  Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, ca. 2381–2323 b.c.  |  Egypt, Memphite Region  |  Limestone, paint  |  Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1913 (13.183.3)
    1280642
  • Mastaba Tomb of Perneb  |  Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, ca. 2381–2323 b.c.  |  Egypt, Memphite Region  |  Limestone, paint  |  Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1913 (13.183.3)
    9341024
  • The Open Door  |  1932  |  Charles Sheeler (American)  |  Conté crayon on paper, mounted on cardboard  |  Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection, Bequest of Edith Abrahamson Lowenthal, 1991 (1992.24.7)
    7901024
  • [Central Portal of the Church of Saint-Jacques, Aubeterre]  |  1851  |  Gustave Le Gray (French)  |  Salted paper print from paper negative  |  Edward Pearce Casey Fund, 1991 (1991.1058)
    11931024
  • Door Board (Amitung)  |  ca. 1910  |  Abanfogop  |  Papua New Guinea, West Sepik Province, Telefolip village, Upper Sepik River region  |  Wood, paint  |  The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1782)
    3451024
  • Reliquary Casket  |  1445  |  Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italian)  |  Copper gilt; champlevé enamel  |  Rogers Fund, 1981 (1981.130)
    11071024
  • Marie Antoinette's Dog Kennel  |  ca. 1775–80  |  Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené (French)  |  Beechwood and pine; silk and velvet  |  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1971 (1971.206.18)
    8131024
  • Shoin Room  |  17th century  |  Japan  |  The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    1280993
  • Tapestry with the Annunciation  |  ca. 1410–1430  |  South Netherlandish  |  Wool warp, wool with a few metallic wefts  |  Gift of Harriet Barnes Pratt, in memory of her husband, Harold Irving Pratt (1877–1939), 1949 (45.76)
    8201024
  • Doorway  |  carved in the 1000s, assembled in 1100s or 1200s  |  Central Italian; Sangemini, from the abbey church of San Nicolò  |  Marble  |  Fletcher Fund, 1947 (47.100.45)
    6281024
  • Study of Light in a Vaulted Interior  |  Wilhelm Bendz (Danish)  |  Oil on paper laid down on canvas  |  Thaw Collection, Jointly Owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2009 (2009.400.3)
    1280939
  • Pair of doors  |  ca. 1325–1330; Mamluk  |  Egypt (Cairo)  |  Wood inlaid with carved ivory panels  |  Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.2064)
    4601024
  • A Maid Asleep  |  ca. 1656–57  |  Johannes Vermeer (Dutch)  |  Oil on canvas  |  Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913 (14.40.611)
    8851024
  • Howard Carter Looking through the Open Doors of Tutankhamun's Second Shrine  |  January 1924  |  Harry Burton (English)  |  The Egyptian Expedition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art  |  Gelatin silver print   |  (TAA 678)
    7431024
  • Daniel Kershaw
    1280852
  • I'm Daniel Kershaw, and my work in the Museum is designing exhibits and permanent galleries.

  • Doors, to me, are the key between so many different areas in the museum that normally may be oddly

  • disjunctive and not linked. And those abrupt transitions, I think, are part of the fun of the Met.

  • It's a confrontation between different kinds of art. It doesn't go down easy all the time.

  • I think that's part of the charm of it. One of my favorite doors that I've chopped into the building is an odd connection between

  • the galleries for Oceania

  • and the Roman galleries. In one direction

  • is the solid, stone architectural ornaments of ancient Rome, and through that doorway you see a featherweight

  • Kwoma ceiling made out of bark painted tiles, massive in its scale. Who knew? I didn't expect that connection to evolve that way and it just worked out fantastically, as odd as that juxtaposition is.

  • Another door that I've cut into the building which I'm really enthusiastic about is this door in the Byzantine galleries. Years ago when they moved a seven-hundred-pound display case out of the way, what I did was to open that door up and to reveal a space underneath it that was never meant to be seen before. It contains

  • grotty-looking brick and the rough underside of the Great Hall stairs. And it's a perfect spot to show early Christian art from northern Egypt. Most of it was burial-related, and so the fact that this crypt of a space has evolved into a gallery for crypt-based art is just perfectly wonderful.

  • I've always been passionate, ever since I was a little boy, with the entrance into Perneb's tomb. One of the passageways ends in

  • what appears to be a standard-issue Egyptian doorway, and yet it's solid stone, it's a fake doorway. I think only the gods were meant to have opened that doorway, but it's a jarring end to that passageway.

  • To me the most interesting doors in the Museum are those that whet your appetite. I love that monochromatic Charles Sheeler painting showing nothing, just an open door, but the door itself is so fabulously, meticulously detailed, that space beyond is beckoning you.

  • Some doors just impress me by their scale, and this great photograph by Gustave Le Gray, it's a grand-looking door in a religious structure meant to look even more significant by arch over arch over arch. In a way that's not too dissimilar from

  • this beautiful Telefolip Door Board. It's about as tall as a tall person is. Hidden in the bottom of it is a round opening symbolizing a bellybutton. And I like the idea of a doorway which is so small that you actually have to slide horizontally through it to get into the big chamber behind it.

  • I think that in doors there's both the forbidding and the inviting. Between those two instinctive reactions you get from a door

  • there's endless variations. I've always felt that the most wonderful transitions that doors provide are

  • those which give you an element of surprise. That what's on one side of the door is so vastly different from what's on the other side of the door.

  • I like the idea of completely being shocked and bewildered by what's in that transition.

  • The shape, the form of the doorway itself can also tell you a great deal or mislead you greatly

  • and those are fun games to play with, as a designer I love to play with that. And we're in an art museum, after all.

  • It's wonderful where the door isn't just something that leads you between places, but is something unto itself.

  • I think the transportation is really what the Met's all about.

  • I think that's what great art does, it serves as a doorway to something else.

  • 68.154_av1
    The Temple of Dendur, Roman period, ca. 15 b.c., Egyptian; Dendur, Nubia, Sandstone Given to the United States by Egypt in 1965, awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967, and installed in The Sackler Wing in 1978 (68.154)
  • JP2519
    Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa: From the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, Edo period, 1856, Ando Hiroshige (Japanese), Oban format, woodblock print; ink and color on paper The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936 (JP2519)
  • 1979.395
    Elijah Boardman, 1789, Ralph Earl (American), Oil on canvas Bequest of Susan W. Tyler, 1979 (1979.395)
  • 25.70.23
    Interior with a Hanging Lamp, 1899, Édouard Vuillard (French), Color lithograph Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925 (25.70.23)
  • 1975.372.1-139
    Ceiling for a Ceremonial House, 1970 and 1973, Kwoma painters, Mariwai village (active early 1970s), Sago petioles, paint Purchase, Rogers Fund and Mr. and Mrs. David Nash and Anonymous Gifts, 1975 (1975.372.1–.139) The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Mrs. Gertrud A. Mellon Gift, and Mr. and Mrs. Alan Brandt Gift in Memory of Jacob J. Brandt, 1974 (1978.412.1576–.1698)
  • 13.183.3_v002
    Mastaba Tomb of Perneb, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, ca. 2381–2323 b.c., Egypt, Memphite Region, Limestone, paint Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1913 (13.183.3)
  • 1992.24.7
    The Open Door, 1932, Charles Sheeler (American), Conté crayon on paper, mounted on cardboard Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection, Bequest of Edith Abrahamson Lowenthal, 1991 (1992.24.7)
  • 1991.1058
    [Central Portal of the Church of Saint-Jacques, Aubeterre], 1851, Gustave Le Gray (French), Salted paper print from paper negative Edward Pearce Casey Fund, 1991 (1991.1058)
  • 1979.206.1782
    Door Board (Amitung), ca. 1910, Abanfogop, Papua New Guinea, West Sepik Province, Telefolip village, Upper Sepik River region, Wood, paint The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1782)
  • 1981.130
    Reliquary Casket, 1445, Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italian), Copper gilt; champlevé enamel Rogers Fund, 1981 (1981.130)
  • 1971.206.18
    Marie Antoinette's Dog Kennel, ca. 1775–80, Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené (French), Beechwood and pine; silk and velvet Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1971 (1971.206.18)
  • 45.76
    Tapestry with the Annunciation, ca. 1410–1430, South Netherlandish, Wool warp, wool with a few metallic wefts Gift of Harriet Barnes Pratt, in memory of her husband, Harold Irving Pratt (1877–1939), 1949 (45.76)
  • 47.100.45
    Doorway, carved in the 1000s, assembled in 1100s or 1200s, Central Italian; Sangemini, from the abbey church of San Nicolò, Marble Fletcher Fund, 1947 (47.100.45)
  • 2009.400.3
    Study of Light in a Vaulted Interior, Wilhelm Bendz (Danish), Oil on paper laid down on canvas Thaw Collection, Jointly Owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2009 (2009.400.3)
  • 91.1.2064
    Pair of doors, ca. 1325–1330; Mamluk, Egypt (Cairo), Wood inlaid with carved ivory panels Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.2064)
  • 14.40.611
    A Maid Asleep, ca. 1656–57, Johannes Vermeer (Dutch), Oil on canvas Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913 (14.40.611)
  • TAA678
    Howard Carter Looking through the Open Doors of Tutankhamun's Second Shrine, January 1924, Harry Burton (English), The Egyptian Expedition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gelatin silver print (TAA 678)
  • The Temple of Dendur, Roman period, ca. 15 b.c., Egyptian; Dendur, Nubia, Sandstone Given to the United States by Egypt in 1965, awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967, and installed in The Sackler Wing in 1978 (68.154)
    Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa: From the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, Edo period, 1856, Ando Hiroshige (Japanese), Oban format, woodblock print; ink and color on paper The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936 (JP2519)
    Elijah Boardman, 1789, Ralph Earl (American), Oil on canvas Bequest of Susan W. Tyler, 1979 (1979.395)
    Interior with a Hanging Lamp, 1899, Édouard Vuillard (French), Color lithograph Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925 (25.70.23)
    Ceiling for a Ceremonial House, 1970 and 1973, Kwoma painters, Mariwai village (active early 1970s), Sago petioles, paint Purchase, Rogers Fund and Mr. and Mrs. David Nash and Anonymous Gifts, 1975 (1975.372.1–.139) The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Mrs. Gertrud A. Mellon Gift, and Mr. and Mrs. Alan Brandt Gift in Memory of Jacob J. Brandt, 1974 (1978.412.1576–.1698)
    Mastaba Tomb of Perneb, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, ca. 2381–2323 b.c., Egypt, Memphite Region, Limestone, paint Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1913 (13.183.3)
    The Open Door, 1932, Charles Sheeler (American), Conté crayon on paper, mounted on cardboard Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection, Bequest of Edith Abrahamson Lowenthal, 1991 (1992.24.7)
    [Central Portal of the Church of Saint-Jacques, Aubeterre], 1851, Gustave Le Gray (French), Salted paper print from paper negative Edward Pearce Casey Fund, 1991 (1991.1058)
    Door Board (Amitung), ca. 1910, Abanfogop, Papua New Guinea, West Sepik Province, Telefolip village, Upper Sepik River region, Wood, paint The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1782)
    Reliquary Casket, 1445, Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italian), Copper gilt; champlevé enamel Rogers Fund, 1981 (1981.130)
    Marie Antoinette's Dog Kennel, ca. 1775–80, Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené (French), Beechwood and pine; silk and velvet Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1971 (1971.206.18)
    Tapestry with the Annunciation, ca. 1410–1430, South Netherlandish, Wool warp, wool with a few metallic wefts Gift of Harriet Barnes Pratt, in memory of her husband, Harold Irving Pratt (1877–1939), 1949 (45.76)
    Doorway, carved in the 1000s, assembled in 1100s or 1200s, Central Italian; Sangemini, from the abbey church of San Nicolò, Marble Fletcher Fund, 1947 (47.100.45)
    Study of Light in a Vaulted Interior, Wilhelm Bendz (Danish), Oil on paper laid down on canvas Thaw Collection, Jointly Owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2009 (2009.400.3)
    Pair of doors, ca. 1325–1330; Mamluk, Egypt (Cairo), Wood inlaid with carved ivory panels Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.2064)
    A Maid Asleep, ca. 1656–57, Johannes Vermeer (Dutch), Oil on canvas Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913 (14.40.611)
    Howard Carter Looking through the Open Doors of Tutankhamun's Second Shrine, January 1924, Harry Burton (English), The Egyptian Expedition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gelatin silver print (TAA 678)
    8000–2000 B.C.
    2000–1000 B.C.
    1000 B.C.–1 A.D.
    1–500 A.D.
    500–1000 A.D.
    1000–1400 A.D.
    1400–1600 A.D.
    1600–1800 A.D.
    1800–1900 A.D.
    1900–Present

    Works of art in order of appearance

    Last Updated: June 22, 2015. Not all works of art in the Museum's collection may be on view on a particular day. For the most accurate location information, please check this page on the day of your visit.

    The Temple of Dendur
    Roman period, ca. 15 b.c.
    Egyptian; Dendur, Nubia
    Sandstone
    Given to the United States by Egypt in 1965, awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967, and installed in The Sackler Wing in 1978 (68.154)
    Not on view
    Egyptian ArtFirst Floor
    Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa: From the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
    Edo period, 1856
    Ando Hiroshige (Japanese)
    Oban format, woodblock print; ink and color on paper
    The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936 (JP2519)
    Not on view
    Asian ArtSecond Floor
    Elijah Boardman
    1789
    Ralph Earl (American)
    Oil on canvas
    Bequest of Susan W. Tyler, 1979 (1979.395)
    Not on view
    American Paintings and SculptureFirst and Second Floors
    Interior with a Hanging Lamp
    1899
    Édouard Vuillard (French)
    Color lithograph
    Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925 (25.70.23)
    Not on view
    Drawings and PrintsSecond Floor
    Ceiling for a Ceremonial House
    1970 and 1973
    Kwoma painters, Mariwai village (active early 1970s)
    Sago petioles, paint
    Purchase, Rogers Fund and Mr. and Mrs. David Nash and Anonymous Gifts, 1975 (1975.372.1–.139)
    The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Mrs. Gertrud A. Mellon Gift, and Mr. and Mrs. Alan Brandt Gift in Memory of Jacob J. Brandt, 1974 (1978.412.1576–.1698)
    Not on view
    First Floor
    Mastaba Tomb of Perneb
    Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, ca. 2381–2323 b.c.
    Egypt, Memphite Region
    Limestone, paint
    Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1913 (13.183.3)
    Not on view
    Egyptian ArtFirst Floor
    The Open Door
    1932
    Charles Sheeler (American)
    Conté crayon on paper, mounted on cardboard
    Edith and Milton Lowenthal Collection, Bequest of Edith Abrahamson Lowenthal, 1991 (1992.24.7)
    Not on view
    Drawings and PrintsSecond Floor
    [Central Portal of the Church of Saint-Jacques, Aubeterre]
    1851
    Gustave Le Gray (French)
    Salted paper print from paper negative
    Edward Pearce Casey Fund, 1991 (1991.1058)
    Not on view
    PhotographsSecond Floor
    Door Board (Amitung)
    ca. 1910
    Abanfogop
    Papua New Guinea, West Sepik Province, Telefolip village, Upper Sepik River region
    Wood, paint
    The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1782)
    Not on view
    Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the AmericasFirst Floor
    Reliquary Casket
    1445
    Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italian)
    Copper gilt; champlevé enamel
    Rogers Fund, 1981 (1981.130)
    Not on view
    European Sculpture and Decorative ArtsFirst Floor
    Marie Antoinette's Dog Kennel
    ca. 1775–80
    Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené (French)
    Beechwood and pine; silk and velvet
    Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1971 (1971.206.18)
    Not on view
    European Sculpture and Decorative ArtsFirst Floor
    Tapestry with the Annunciation
    ca. 1410–1430
    South Netherlandish
    Wool warp, wool with a few metallic wefts
    Gift of Harriet Barnes Pratt, in memory of her husband, Harold Irving Pratt (1877–1939), 1949 (45.76)
    Not on view
    Medieval Art and The CloistersFirst Floor
    Doorway
    carved in the 1000s, assembled in 1100s or 1200s
    Central Italian; Sangemini, from the abbey church of San Nicolò
    Marble
    Fletcher Fund, 1947 (47.100.45)
    Not on view
    Medieval Art and The CloistersFirst Floor
    Study of Light in a Vaulted Interior
    Wilhelm Bendz (Danish)
    Oil on paper laid down on canvas
    Thaw Collection, Jointly Owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2009 (2009.400.3)
    Not on view
    European PaintingsSecond Floor
    Pair of doors
    ca. 1325–1330; Mamluk
    Egypt (Cairo)
    Wood inlaid with carved ivory panels
    Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.2064)
    Not on view
    Islamic ArtSecond Floor
    A Maid Asleep
    ca. 1656–57
    Johannes Vermeer (Dutch)
    Oil on canvas
    Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913 (14.40.611)
    Not on view
    European PaintingsSecond Floor
    Howard Carter Looking through the Open Doors of Tutankhamun's Second Shrine
    January 1924
    Harry Burton (English)
    The Egyptian Expedition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Gelatin silver print
    (TAA 678)
    Not on view
    Egyptian ArtFirst Floor

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