Flowers at the Met

The Great Hall at the Metropolitan Museum, at the main entrance on Fifth Avenue, has four or five of these large vases, which are regularly filled with ever-changing arrangements of flowers. The plaque below (view it large) reads: "These fresh flowers are a continuing gift of Lila Acheson Wallace"--presumably in perpetuity. They add immensely to the allure of the wonderful hall. (Don't miss the shadows in this image.)

We visited a marvelous exhibition on Asian sculpture: Lost Kingdoms, Hindu-Buddhist works from the 5th to 8th centuries. Our friend Alice from England joined us, including lunch. Marylee has known her since their time together at Somerville College, Oxford in the 1960s; Alice has recently become Principal of Somerville, to cap a wonderful career. We'll see her again tomorrow evening.