Last week I attended an administrative leadership institute at Fordham University in New York. (I'd point to the institute website, but they don't have one... more about that in another post...) While the sessions and speakers at the institute were good, one of the highlights of the trip was having the opportunity to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I had read recently in The New Yorker about a painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna called, Madonna and Child. The Metropolitan had recently purchased the painting for $50 million dollars. The New Yorker article tells the story of the painting and how the Metropolitan acquired it. When I read the article I made a mental note to go see it when I was in New York.

On Friday, I noticed a post on Jason Kottke's weblog about the painting. He had written a nice piece about the painting and I decided I would go see it before leaving on Saturday.

The painting itself is tiny, only about 8 x 10 inches. It is housed in plexiglas case in a room with other paintings from that period. I was expecting a large crowd, but basically had the room to myself.

Kottke also points to other Duccio resources, including a Wikipedia entry...