Mrs. Nancy Edelman’s AP Art History class spent an engaging morning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this week. The first stop was the Met’s special exhibit, “Jerusalem 1100-1400: Every People Under Heaven,” a collection of manuscripts, sculpture, luxury arts and more that reflect the role of Jerusalem as a subject of art from around the world during the Middle Ages. Having recently studied Islamic art and the art of Byzantine and Gothic Europe, the students were enthralled by real-life examples of illuminated manuscripts from multiple religious traditions, but especially their own. Highlights included haggadot and machzorim with illuminations representing holy sites in Jerusalem. The exhibit also featured pages of the Rambam’s Mishna Torah with a plan of the Temple complex, copied by a 13th century scribe.

The AP Art History course requires students to study 250 specific works of art from ten different content areas, from 30,000 BCE to the present. After spending time with Mrs. Edelman (and art appreciating chaperone Mrs. Leah Moskovits) discussing late Gothic and Renaissance works they had just studied in class, students spent the rest of the morning on a scavenger hunt to find some of those works as well as similar works. It was quite exciting to see the Assyrian Lamassu figures in person (see photo). After spending much time studying the development of architecture since the dawn of civilization, the students confidently described the architectural features of the Met itself, never having noticed them previously. Some of the students planned their route in advance and managed to see all the works on the scavenger hunt list in about 90 minutes.

The class then braved the rainy weather and walked up Fifth Avenue (past the Guggenheim, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright—one of the architects included in the curriculum) for lunch at the Jewish Museum. They enjoyed a great day of culture—both Jewish and world—in New York City.