(NEW YORK, March 6, 2006)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art today officially unveiled and dedicated its newly renovated and freshly cleaned landmark Indiana limestone façade – the historic, century-old "face of the Museum" that fronts Fifth Avenue from 80th to 84th streets. Its restoration – marking the first comprehensive cleaning in its history – comes more 100 years after the iconic central façade was completed in 1902.
Financed by both public funds and privately raised donations, the comprehensive $12.2 million restoration project took four years to complete, and included not only the washing of the limestone, but rehabilitation of its sculptural elements and roof line.
Participating in today's ceremony in the Museum's Great Hall, followed by the ribbon-cutting outside, were: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Charles Schumer, and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. They were joined by the Director and President of the Metropolitan, and a host of public officials, community board leaders, neighbors, Trustees, and friends.
"As an institution, the Metropolitan feels truly invigorated by this brisk and thorough cleaning," commented Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Museum, today. "The Museum is aglow as never before in our lifetimes, and beckons visitors from all parts of the city, the nation, and the world not only with the spectacular quality and quantity of its contents – its collections – but the staggering beauty of its outside walls. Mindful as we are of our supreme good fortune in having a unified architectural façade completed just as World War I brought the
era of such glorious structures to an end, we are equally grateful to the many generous friends and skilled artisans who have made its preservation and renewed beauty possible for the enormous benefit of the public."
Emily K. Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan who hosted today's event, commented: "Once again, our generous private and government funders have made certain that this important renovation possible – and ensured that the work was conducted at the highest possible standards of excellence. We particularly thank Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Council for the City's splendid generosity, Senators Clinton and Schumer for helping us secure federal aid for construction work at the Met for the first time, and Congresswoman Maloney, for her own tireless work in generating this government support. The result is truly a collaboration among all our constituencies, one of which the public and private sectors can be justly proud."
The façade of The Metropolitan Museum of Art was designed by Richard Morris Hunt and Charles Follen McKim for the firm of McKim, Mead, and White. Hunt was responsible for the central building, construction for which began in 1898, and McKim created the north and south wings along Fifth Avenue, construction for which began in 1906 and ended in 1918. The expanded front steps were added in 1970 under the supervision of architect Kevin Roche for Roche Dinkeloo Associates.
When Hunt – considered the dean of American architects in his day – died in 1895, his design and elevations for the Metropolitan Museum were passed on to his son Richard Howland Hunt to carry out with engineer/architect George B. Post. The senior Hunt had envisioned a classical palace of art, alive with sculptural elements. His protégé, the sculptor Karl Bitter, was chosen to create the medallion portraits of six artists – Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Dürer, Rembrandt, and Velázquez – that adorn the spandrels of the arches, as well as the four caryatids representing Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Music. The keystones of the three arches were inspired by the head of the Minerva of Velletri (in the Louvre), and the lion gargoyles placed at intervals along the cornice are copied from classic models.
The overall designs were so ambitious and costly, that several of the elements initially proposed by Hunt were not ultimately approved or completed, the most noticeable example of this being the four massive blocks of stone that sit atop the columns flanking the Museum's main entrance. Hunt's intention was that these should be carved, by four different sculptors, into groupings representing the "four great periods of Art" – ancient art (Egyptian), classical art (Greek), the Renaissance, and modern art. When the plans to carve the blocks were dropped, the stone was not removed because its bulk and weight were deemed necessary to
balance the façade as an architectural design. Despite the simplification of Hunt's original concept, the façade was nevertheless hailed at its inauguration in 1902 by one newspaper as "the most monumental example of architecture in America" and by a prominent architect as "the best classic building in the country."
The project team for the facade restoration oversaw restoration of the Museum's rare monel roofing system, followed by stone repairs using limestone from the original quarry, classic carving techniques, and the reintroduction of lime mortar. The precision of these repairs renders them virtually invisible. Sophisticated testing was undertaken for all restoration decisions, and led to the development of a variety of long-lasting solutions for such causes of deterioration as water penetration, rusting of embedded structural elements, and patterns of degradation inherent in limestone. Finally, the monumental bronze windows were restored, providing a tailored finish.
Today's façade dedication was accompanied by the formal unveiling of the Metropolitan's new outdoor banner scheme – in which its signature, 36-by-26-foot, flowing exhibition banners will be permanently replaced by smaller – but still colorful and widely visible – horizontal banners set under the central building's three lunette windows. The first newly designed banners herald the current exhibitions Samuel Palmer (1805-1881): Vision and Landscape and Robert Rauschenberg: Combines.
"As the pioneers in museum banners, the Met was also the first to recognize that the time had come to refine its 35-year-old display scheme," noted Mr. de Montebello. "This new design will allow light to stream continuously into the Museum's Great Hall, bringing the same added vitality to our landmark interior as the cleaning project has provided for landmark exterior. Moreover, the reduced banners are far more respectful of the architectural integrity of the building – which is no longer hidden, but proudly shows its full face to the community and the world."
Although completely cleaned, the southernmost part of the façade will remain partially obscured until at least the spring of 2007 as work continues on the interior of the south end of the building – site of the future galleries for Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art, as well as new galleries for Islamic art, expanded galleries for 19th-century European paintings, and renovated galleries for the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
The architects for the façade restoration project were Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., the contractor was Nicholson and Galloway, and the technical consultant was Walter Sedovic Architects.
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