Google Doodle celebrates the Metropolitan Museum of Art on its 151st anniversary

Google is celebrating the 151st anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with an animated homepage Doodle.

On April 13, 1870 — 151 years ago — the New York State Legislature approved the incorporation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, formed by a collective of businessmen, thinkers, and artists who sought to make art and art education available to the American public.

Shortly thereafter, the museum obtained its first piece, a Roman sarcophagus, but it wasn’t until two years later — February 20, 1872 — that the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened the doors to its first Fifth Avenue location. The next year, the museum outgrew that location and moved to a mansion elsewhere in the city. Ultimately, in 1880, the Metropolitan Museum of Art moved to its current location, part of Fifth Avenue’s “Museum Mile.”

Today’s Google Doodle features an isometric illustration of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, above which are six frames. In each appropriately colored frame, you’ll see one of a few works of art from the museum that resembles a letter of the word “Google,” changing to a different piece every few seconds. Below each frame, you’ll also find a line showing where in the museum that particular work can be found.

To learn more about each of the artworks featured in today’s Google Doodle, you can head over to the official website for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Meanwhile, the Google Doodle Blog has some interesting info about the artistic process behind the Doodle, including the fact that this Doodle was supposed to be shown a year ago, for the museum’s 150th anniversary, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

I have really missed visiting museums during the pandemic, so working on this Doodle was for me like a virtual visit to the Met. I hope that this animated Doodle gives people a little experience of touring the museum, and coming face-to-face with beautiful and captivating art objects from so many different cultures and eras.

— Erich Nagler, Google Doodler

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