METRONOME 



3761 



METZ 



METRONOME 



MET'RONOME, from two Greek words 

 meaning measure and law, is the name of an 

 instrument designed to enable performers to 

 play in exact time. It consists of a weighted 

 pendulum which swings in front of a graduated 

 scale. This pen- 

 dulum moves on 

 a pivot and is 

 kept in motion by 

 clockwork. Its vi- 

 bration indicates 

 the correct time 

 or speed at which 

 a musical compo- 

 sition should be 

 played. By shift- 

 ing a sliding 

 weight attached 

 to the pendulum, 

 either up or down, 

 the vibrations are made slower or faster, the 

 scale indicating the number of beats each min- 

 ute. The metronome was patented by Johann 

 Maalzel in 1816, but the credit for the inven- 

 tion belongs to Winkel of Amsterdam. For 

 helping pupils play exercises in accurate time 

 the instrument is useful, but anyone who should 

 become accustomed to playing all compositions 

 according to its beat would develop a me- 

 chanical style of performance. 



METROPOLITAN MUSEUM , metropol'i 

 tan muze'um, OF ART, the largest and most 

 important art museum in the United States, 

 located in Central Park, New York City. It 

 had its beginning in November, 1869, when a 

 committee was appointed to organize the proj- 

 ect and raise an endowment of $250,000 for the 

 purpose. The New York state legislature ap- 

 propriated $500,000 for the building, a portion 

 of which was completed in 1879. In 1902 the 

 central part of the structure, facing Fifth Ave- 

 nue, was completed at a cost of $1,200,000 to 

 the city. A board of trustees, selected from 

 among the membership subscribing to its main- 

 tenance, governs the museum. 



The art treasures are classified in different 

 departments and form a magnificent collection, 

 one of the richest in the world. The depart- 

 ment of paintings contains pictures from Old 

 English, Dutch, Flemish and French masters, 

 its nucleus being acquired in 1871. The Cath- 

 erine Lorillard and Wolfe bequest also con- 

 tained European paintings. The Benjamin Alt- 

 man collection, willed to the museum in 1913, 

 is valued at $15,000,000, while the Cesnola col- 

 lection of antiquities is the richest collection of 

 236 



classical art in the world. The museum has 

 received many legacies both in money and art 

 collections and contains one of the best libra- 

 ries of art in the United States. 



The following examples of painting and'sculp- 

 ture are representative of the art treasures 

 owned by the museum: 



Madonna Colonna Raphael 



The Mills Rembrandt 



Portrait of Lady Carew .... Sir Joshua Reynolds 



The Holy Family Paul Reubens 



The Horse Fair Rosa Bonheur 



Girl with a Cat Thomas Gainsborough 



Miss Rich Building a House of Cards 



William Hogarth 



Retreat from Moscow Gustave DorS 



Autumn Oaks George Inness 



Ville d'Avray Jean B. Corot 



Ariadne in Naxos George F. Watts 



Portrait of George Washington. . . .Gilbert Stuart 

 Statue of a Prince of the Julio-Claudian Family 



(First century A. D.) 



Etruscan Bronze Chariot. . . . (Sixth century B. c.) 



METTERNICH, met' erniK, CLEMENS WEN- 

 ZEL NEPOMUK LOTHAR, Prince (1773-1859), an 

 Austrian diplomat and statesman and chief min- 

 ister of the empire for thirty years. He was 

 born in Coblenz and educated at the University 

 of Strassburg. At the coronation of Leopold II 

 he represented the princes of Westphalia, when 

 only seventeen. In 1794 he settled in Vienna and 

 in 1795 married the granddaughter of Kaunitz, 

 the Austrian chancellor. This alliance brought 

 him great estates. His natural charm of man- 

 ner and reputation for gallantry made him a 

 prominent figure at the court in Vienna, and his 

 diplomatic career began in 1803, when he be- 

 came ambassador to Germany. When war was 

 declared between Austria and France he was 

 detained for some time by Napoleon, but when 

 set free he eagerly entered the anti-Napoleon 

 league. He endeavored to make Austria the 

 chief country to profit by the reapportionment 

 of European territory, and in the following 

 years exercised the highest authority in Aus- 

 tria, almost without limit. In the Holy Alli- 

 ance (which see) his diplomacy enabled him to 

 take a leading position, and he attempted to 

 repress all national independence. After the 

 revolution of 1848 he was driven from power 

 and went to England. He returned to Vienna 

 in 1851, but never undertook to recover his 

 prestige. 



METZ, mets, one of the strongest military 

 posts of Europe, in Alsace-Lorraine, France, 

 on the banks and islands of the Moselle River, 

 about eighty miles northwest of Strassburg. It 

 was originally a Roman camp, called Divodu- 



