13. The Cleveland Museum of Art

The art museum is, hands-down, my favorite Cleveland activity.  The galleries are varied, extensive, and well-curated -- you can easily spend the better part of the day exploring.  The best part is, following the mission of "for the benefit of all the people, forever," admission to the permanent collection is always free, making it the classiest cheap date in town.  

The museum is in the middle of a huge renovation and expansion, slated to be completed in 2013; however, most of the galleries remain open through construction.

"Looking Along Broadway Toward Grace Church" by Red Grooms

This piece has been at the entrance to the galleries for as long as I can remember -- my grandparents took me to the art museum when I was in elementary school, and I vividly remember this.

One of the museum's several Van Goghs.

  

A Degas ballet dancer painting, with sculpture in the foreground.

One of the new additions from the building project is a glass-enclosed sculpture gallery, and it's a wonderful bright, airy space.  

Rodin's "The Age of Bronze"

Rodin's "The Thinker"

The art museum actually has two different castings of "The Thinker" -- this one, in the sculpture gallery, and a larger one that sits on the back steps overlooking the lagoon.

detail of "Amor Caritas" by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

The museum has a small but interesting collection of Tiffany glass, with this window being the largest. 

Loooooobster.

The museum has an exhibit called "The Glory of the Painted Page" on view through March 27.  It features illuminated manuscript pages from the permanent collection.  The attention to detail and amoutn of time it must have taken to paint these is pretty mind-blowing, considering the materials the monks were working with.

This is one of four huuuuge paintings depicting the muses -- the title of this painting is "Polyhymnia, Muse of Eloquence," but I think it would be more appropriately titled "Polyhymnia, Muse of Sleepwalkers (and Zombies)."

The galleries are expansive and beautifully laid-out, walking the line between not feeling bare but giving each piece space to be viewed individually:

There's also an impressive collection of ancient art:

Buckbeak?

The museum's most controversial recent acquisition is this unassuming-looking ancient Greek sculpture:

Apollo Sauroktonos (Lizard-Slayer), attributed to Praxiteles (c. 440BC - c. 330BC) 

A circa 1st-2nd century AD marble Roman copy of this statue exists in both the Vatican museum and the Louvre.  This bronze statue, though, is the only known extant original work by Praxiteles -- although the provenance is incomplete and still the subject of some dispute.

And lest you think the museum is insufficiently badass for your tastes:

And finally...

That's right -- the armor court has a LIFE SIZE KNIGHT.  If Night at the Museum
ever happens in real life and you can get this guy on your side, you're all set.