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Google's Doodle Today Celebrates the Metropolitan Museum of Art — Can You Name All 18 Works of Art Featured?

Photo credit: Google
Photo credit: Google

Today's Google doodle is one of our favorites yet! In honor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 151st anniversary, the search engine swapped out its iconic logo for a more artful graphic that encapsulates the museu, along with a looping animation of some of its most memorable pieces.

Head to Google anytime today and you'll notice the classic colored letters have each been replaced with a different piece of art that can be found amongst the Met's 1.5 million piece collection. These letters sit upon an illustration of the museum (which first opened its doors on April 13, 1870) surrounded by the trees in Central Park. But if you stare at the doodle closely, you'll notice that the letters are animated. Each letter will slowly transition to reveal two other famed pieces. Look even more closely and you'll notice that each letter is attached to an arrow that points to the piece's location in the museum. While Google is only six letters, there are 18 works of art incorporated into the logo.

In a Q&A with Google, doodle artist Erich Nagler explained that he started working on this last year to celebrate the Met's 150th anniversary, but had to postpone it because of the pandemic. Returning to the project this year, it was a bit more sentimental for him. Like many of us, he hadn't stepped foot in the Met since the pandemic started.

With this doodle, he aimed to "recreate the feeling of visiting the museum from numerous past visits." Fortunately, he was able to use the Met's online collection as a resource to create today's doodle. While he could have opted for a stationary logo that only showcased six pieces, Nagler felt it was important to create a looping animation: "this captures the serendipity and surprise of wandering the galleries and discovering these beautiful masterpieces," he said.

As for those logging onto Google today, he shared what he hopes online visitors will take away from his work: "I hope that this animated Doodle gives people a little experience of touring the museum, and coming face-to-face with beautiful and captivating art objects from so many different cultures and eras."

Below, we've listed all 18 artworks present in the doodle, by letter. Currently, the Met is open to visitors with limited hours and strict safety protocols. Those wishing to enter must have a timed ticket or reservation. Art enthusiasts can always explore the museum virtually here via Google Arts & Culture.

G (blue)

o (red)

o (yellow)

g (blue)

l (green)

e (blue)

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