Vanderbilt Mantelpiece

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This mantelpiece originally dominated the entrance hall of the residence of Cornelius Vanderbilt II on Fifth Avenue at 57th Street (demolished 1925-27). Working for the architect George B. Post, the artist John La Farge (1835-1910) created a lavish decorative program, to which Saint-Gaudens contributed many of the sculptural elements. Two classical caryatids, Amor (Love) and Pax (Peace), support the expansive entablature with bowed heads and upraised arms. The overmantel mosaic depicts a classically dressed woman holding a garland. The Latin phrase of hospitality flanking her head may be translated as “the house at its threshold gives evidence of the master’s good will. Welcome to the guest who arrives; farewell and helpfulness to him who departs.”

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art