Anglomania at the Met

What a great day. I went over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today to see the Anglomania fashion exhibit before it closes this weekend. ($20/$10 for students) It was ok- not really that big.

afterwards, I just allowed myself to get lost. I wandered through the Byzantine galleries, and over to the Renaissance. Then browsed the private collections in the Early Netherlandish area, searching for anything by Hieronymous Bosch. I found a work by him, that I wasn't so into.
I'm obsessed with The Garden of Earthly Delights, but this painting was just sort of ordinary. I was still happy to see it in real life. Then..it happened. I was beside myself. Right there, in the Met, I never knew it was there. The Crucifixion by Jan Van Eyck! RIGHT THERE!

The painting depicts Jesus on the cross on the left panel, and the right panel is a cross section of the Earth, of Heaven and Hell. Heaven is adorned by an Asian looking Jesus, Mary, Joseph and a dimensional choir. Heaven melts into a tumultuous Earth, with a chaotic sea meeting chaotic humans. And then the crowning glory, a spread eagle skeleton leading to the netherworld. Much like Bosch's Earthly Delights, the humans below are showed in various states of terrible pain, torture and disfigurement. Paintings like this were the soap operas of the time. Viewers (much like me) could look at the details for hours. Who needed TV? I stared at this painting for 20 minutes. The guard thought I was crazy. Maybe I am?