LIFE - For Art's Sake: LIFE Inside the Met

The Met: Worlds Within Worlds

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

The Metropolitan Museum is a vast, kaleidoscopic universe unto itself, and in March 1939 LIFE celebrated the place in an article featuring pictures—of sculptures, furniture, weapons, and on and on—shot by the great Alfred Eisenstaedt. A visit to the museum, LIFE exclaimed, is "as much fun as rummaging through a king's attic." Like the picture above, most of the images in this gallery never appeared in the magazine—but 70 years on, photos from that shoot still beautifully convey the magic, mystery, and charm of the place.

Welcome Cat

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

'The Struggle of Two Natures in Man' by George Grey Barnard

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Encaustic Portrait on Mummy Casing

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Egyptian Cat Figures

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Wow!

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Joan of Arc's Helmet. Maybe.

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

The Met does not assert that this is Joan of Arc's helmet, but does affirm that it is from the same period and is of the same style as that worn by armies of Joan's time. So ... perhaps ... just maybe ...

Hellenistic Helmet

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Etruscan Warriors, Almost

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

These "Etruscan" statues, long thought to be more than 2,500 years old, were proven to be fakes in 1961.

Not Quite Etruscan

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Sculpture Court

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Egyptian Sculpture

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Unidentified Sculpture at the Metropolitan

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Art Students Copy Work on Display at the Met

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Model in the Egyptian Collection

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Egyptian Sculpture, the Met

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Egyptian Mummy Cases

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Tomb in the Egyptian Wing of the Met

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Egyptian Sculptures

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Figure Holding Urns

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

The Visitor

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Greek Statuary

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Greek Statue

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Ancient Greek Sculptures at the Met

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Archer

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Roman Sculpture Gallery

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Studying Statues

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Helmet in the Hall of Armor

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

The Hall of Armor

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Armor Detail

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Well Armored

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Mounted

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Asian Statuary

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Asian Sculpture

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Sculpture of a Hindu Deity

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Hand Fragment From an Unidentified Asian Sculpture

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Staircase in the American Collection

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Costumes

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Under Wraps

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST