Ancient Statues at The Met to Receive Patrons' Noses
Thanks to the inaugural Smellowship program, your nose could end up on a marble sculpture in the museum's Greek and Roman Art wing.
The Met’s got your nose! Yesterday, the museum announced that a few lucky patrons can sponsor rhinoplasties for the sculptures in its Greek and Roman wing — modeled after their own schnoz.
Starting at $800 a pop, the inaugural Smellowship program offers donors a chance to admire their noses on the famously noseless Greco-Roman marble statues of the 9th century BCE to 5th century CE. Sculptures of Aphrodite, Dionysus, and Athena have already been snatched up.
The museum is partnering with Nasonex Studios, best known for its “Instagram face” cosmetic procedures and not to be confused with the over-the-counter nasal spray of the same name.
Hours after the announcement, however, Nasonex Studios founder and lead surgeon Brad Smellini went on Instagram live to offer unsanctioned tips for patrons interested in sponsoring a Smellowship, claiming that he wanted to populate the museum with “bunny-slope noses” and “chiseled Chads.”
Several social media users flooded the live to point out that many of the marble sculptures likely had aquiline or bridged noses in their original forms, while others defended the marble sculptures' right to "look and feel their best," even if it means reinforcing mainstream beauty standards.
A spokesperson for the museum clarified that the project “aims to skewer looksmaxxing by celebrating its Classical roots and the Greco-Roman sculptors who walked so Clavicular could mew.”
One marble sculpture, who asked to remain anonymous, told Hyperallergic that they're concerned about the message the project will send to impressionable young statues elsewhere in the museum. "This definitely isn't the first time one of us has had work done, I can tell you that!" they said. "It's just the first time the public is hearing about it."
Reached over email, Smellini said: "I’m beyond thrilled to give these sculptures the rhinoplasties they deserve. What can I say? I really know how to pick noses!”
