Giacometti in the Temple of Dendur

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents 'Giacometti in the Temple of Dendur,' an installation of seventeen bronze and plaster sculptures by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti set within and around the ancient Roman-Egyptian temple that has anchored the Met since the 1970s. On view June 12 through September 8, 2026, the show draws out a little-known but formative influence on Giacometti's mid-century work: ancient Egyptian art, which he first encountered as a teenager in Italy and studied closely in the Egyptian galleries of the Louvre after moving to Paris at age 20. Recognizable forms including 'Walking Man' (1960) and 'Pointing Man' (1947) echo hieroglyphic figures in profile, while 'The Cat' (1954) recalls the animal's sacred status in Egyptian culture. 'Walking Woman (I)' (1932) stands in the temple's offering hall, where a deity's statue would once have been placed, and a bronze cat climbs the exterior wall as groupings of standing figures gather on the raised platform as if come to worship. Several fragile painted plasters travel here on rare loan from the Fondation Giacometti before entering the new Giacometti Museum in Paris, opening in 2028. The installation arrives as the Met's modern and contemporary galleries close for five years to make way for a new wing, with curators animating other spaces across the museum. It is organized with Emilie Bouvard, curator at the Fondation Giacometti, and Stephanie D'Alessandro, the Met's curator of modern art.