The Music Lesson

John George Brown

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

At a time when women were gaining independence from their traditional roles as wives and mothers and birthrates were dropping, Brown celebrated romance and marriage by depicting music making, an approved activity for courting couples. Underscoring the message of potential nuptials are several details in the well-furnished middle-class parlor: the planter filled with ivy, which could signify women who cling to men for support; the harp, a common symbol of love; and the framed picture of a haloed female figure. The couple’s complementary attire and shared concentration signal their compatibility.

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