Torricellian barometer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hermes, the Greek god of commerce and patron of weights and measures, was known to the Romans as Mercury. His image on this barometer is appropriate for an instrument to measure changes in air pressure. It doubles as an allusion to the column of mercury by which the measurement is made. The glass tube is a modern replacement.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art