Free Art Catalogs and Guides from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art recently (?) launched a MetPublications site that will be of interest to biblical scholars. Its purpose is described on its About page:

MetPublications is a portal to the Met’s comprehensive publishing program. Beginning with nearly 650 titles published from 1964 to the present, this resource will continue to expand and could eventually offer access to nearly all books, Bulletins, and Journals published by the Metropolitan Museum since the Met's founding in 1870. It will also include online publications.

From a biblical perspective, you might want to search using thematic categories using such ones as:

• Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Greek and Roman Art in the Ancient World
• Byzantine Art

Some of the books are only offered in Google Book Preview, but most are free, downloadable PDFs. Here are some I found that were particularly interesting:

• Art of the Ancient Near East: A Resource for Educators
• Roman Art: A Resource for Educators
• The Vatican: Spirit and Art of Christian Rome
• The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West 
• Bronze and Iron: Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
• Guide to the Collections: Ancient Near Eastern Art
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, Egypt and the Ancient Near East (preview only)
• Treasures of the Holy Land: Ancient Art from the Israel Museum (preview only)
• Ancient Art in Miniature: Ancient Near Eastern Seals from the Collection of Martin and Sarah Cherkasky 
• Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt: A Photographic Essay (preview only)
• Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century
• The Jaharis Gospel Lectionary: The Story of a Byzantine Book (preview only)

I am not an art specialist, so the first two "Resource for Educators" guides were especially helpful. (How do you know if a depiction is that of an Assyrian deity? The guide will tell you.) Coming from an art museum, there are many graphics, illustrations, photos, and descriptions of many notable pieces from antiquity. Lots of archaeological stuff and much more...

[HT: Stephen's Web]