Philadelphia won a Manet painting in an art museum Super Bowl bet with Kansas City
The Kansas City Chiefs’ hopes of becoming the first team to three-peat as Super Bowl champions came to an end last weekend in Super Bowl 59 as the Philadelphia Eagles cruised to a 40-22 win.
However, the Lombardi trophy isn’t the only valuable item the Eagles brought back to Philadelphia. Thanks to the so-called “Museum Bowl,” a friendly bet between the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum, Philly also won a painting.
Both museums wagered paintings by Édouard Manet that they had in their collections, and with the Eagles win, the PMA — which also served as the end location of the Super Bowl parade on Friday — will get to display Manet’s The Croquet Party.
On loan, of course.
This isn’t the first time the museums have made a bet over the Super Bowl. When the Chiefs and Eagles faced off in the world championship two years ago, won by Kansas City, the Nelson-Atkins got to borrow Thomas Eakins’ Sailing, according to The Art Newspaper.
The Eagles may have won the Super Bowl, which was just their second in franchise history, but I think we all know the true prize here.