“Everyone everywhere has dreamed of landing on the moon.” In this brisk but sweeping tour of lunar imagery, art critic Aline B. Saarinen offers a poetic consideration of the moon’s significance across time and cultures. Tracing this symbolism from the Roman goddess Diana to the Japanese myth of the moon rabbit, Saarinen presents a spellbinding survey of mythological associations that illustrates how people have always sought to understand the moon’s mysterious powers. This curious short film, originally meant to be televised during the first moon landing on July 20, 1969, never aired.
Launched in 2020 as part of The Met’s 150th anniversary year, From the Vaults is a series that presents materials from the Museum’s extensive audiovisual holdings with the public. The Met’s moving-image archive, which comprises over 1,500 films, spans from the 1920s onward and includes rarely seen artist profiles and documentaries, as well as process films about art-making techniques and behind-the-scenes footage.
