Lion

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is a best-in-the-world art museum because the building is gorgeous, the collection is extensive and the curators are smart and thoughtful about what they show and how they talk about it. In one space are truly ancient artifacts from early civilizations that are so rare I always wonder if it they should be ‘here’, in Kansas City, Missouri and not where they were created – on a hillside in Ancient Greece or in a valley in Mesopotamia. But if theses objects were not spread about the globe we would never know them, study them, understand anything about other cultures. There is a small golden statue of a lion from ancient Rome that was clearly made by a person who had only a little information about lions. There are several lions in the Nelson and I love every one of them. The expense and energy that must have gone into the creation of these objects that are now just fun to admire is delightful. A solid reminder that are does not have to be taken so seriously when the subject is simply imagined.