One Moon, One World: global museums and their mooncake innovation (3)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Symbol of the Moon: Diana of the Tower

For Chinese people, the Moon Goddess is Chang’e, who drank the elixir and flew upward toward heaven, choosing the moon as her residence. Diana, on the other hand, is a goddess in Roman and Hellenistic religion, who is considered a patroness of the moon and hunters. Totally different from her docile and mild Chinese counterparts, Diana is a brave warrior with excellent skills in archery and hunting.

The goddess has always been one of the favorite subjects of Western literature and art. Diana of the Tower, an iconic statue by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, was once a famous New York City landmark. It was originally used as a weather vane for the tower of Madison Square Garden in 1891, while Model Julia “Dudie” Baird posed for the body of the statue. During the old days, the gilded figure caught the sun and could be seen from all over the city as far as New Jersey. Electric lights, then a novelty, illuminated it at night; it was the first statue in history to be lit by electricity.

In the following years, the original statue was destroyed in a major fire, but its many replicas remain in several museums across the US, showcasing the glory of Modern American art. A 1928 cast is kept in the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. 

Innovative mooncake flavor:

Different from its western style package, the Metropolitan Museum of Art mooncakes are designed in the form of lotus and moon, both are lucky and propitious signs in Chinese culture. The cake has six unique flavors with a combination of traditional Chinese and Western dessert: lime cheese, grape candy, osmanthus candy, liquid chocolate and soy milk mochi.