Hovering Above

Marisa Merz (Italian, born 1926). Untitled. Undated. Unfired clay, gold leaf, paint, iron tripod. Two heads: 6 5/16 × 6 5/16 × 4 3/4 in. (16 × 16 × 12 cm) each; pedestal: 59 1/16 × 19 11/16 × 19 11/16 in. (150 × 50 × 50 cm) Collection of Anish Kapoor. Courtesy Gladstone Gallery

Like other young artists of her generation, Merz questioned this disastrous historical inheritance and utilized her own art as a source of critique that could look back in time for a better precedent. The sculptures, paintings and drawings on view at the Met Breuer reflect a range of earlier visual influences such as ancient Byzantine mosaics and the heroic figure seen throughout the art of Classical Greece, Rome and then Renaissance Italy. “The Sky Is a Great…