Art World Revivalism

I saw the Met's new Duccio acquisition the other day, and I have to say, I don't quite get Duccio (if Michael Kimmelman can say "I have never entirely got Raphael," -- NYT, "The Raphael of Sweet Piety and Decorum, Nov. 12, 2004 -- I can say I don't get Duccio.) And I object to having to wait in line to see a painting. (It's so small and so glossy/glary that you have to view it up close and head-on, meaning QUEUE UP, PAL!) Let's be frank. If it weren't an eight-figure new acquisition, you wouldn't even stop to look at it.

But some acquisitions really ripple. Just check out the gift shop. The new Duccio has given the Met the opportunity to unload some of their dusty inventory of books on Sienese art. Which could set in motion a whole series of rekindlings and re-evaluations (Friends of the Met group tour, anyone?) and before long there'll be a new Frank Gehry-designed "Guggenheim Siena."