The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Established	1872
Location	5th Avenue and 82nd Street, Manhattan, New York
Visitor figures	4 million/year
Director	Philippe de Montebello
Website	www.metmuseum.org

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, USA. Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Philippe de Montebello (born May 16, 1936 in Paris) has served since 1977 as the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York Central Park is a large public Urban park in New York City, with about twenty-five million visitors annually Museum Mile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the City of New York, running from 82nd to 104th streets on the Upper East The City of New York The United States of America —commonly referred to as the It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. ^[1] The main building, often referred to simply as "the Met," is one of the world's largest art galleries, and has a much smaller second location in Upper Manhattan, at "The Cloisters," which features medieval art. An art gallery or art museum is a space for the exhibition of art, usually Visual art. Upper Manhattan denotes the more northerly region of the New York City Borough of Manhattan. The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle Ages. Medieval art covers a vast scope of time and place over 1000 years of Art history in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

The Great Hall

Represented in the permanent collection are works of art from classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean Ancient Egyptian art refers to the style of painting sculpture crafts and architecture developed by the Civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 See also Western art, History of painting, Western art history, History of art, Art history, Painting, Outline of painting Sculpture of the United States Visual arts of the United States refers to the history of Painting and Visual art in the United States. History of Modern art Roots in the 19th century Although modern Sculpture and Architecture are reckoned to have emerged at the end of the nineteenth The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine and Islamic art. African art constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth Asian art can refer to Art amongst many cultures in Asia. Many modern Asian artists seek to blend ancient Asian themes with contemporary artistic styles Oceanic art refers to the creative works made by the native peoples of the Pacific Islands and Australia, including areas as far apart as Hawaii and Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 4th century until the Fall of Constantinople Islamic art encompasses the arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people (not necessarily Muslim) who lived within the territory that was inhabited by culturally ^[2] The museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Armour (or armor) is protective covering most commonly manufactured from metals to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact ^[3] A number of notable interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Met's galleries. ^[4]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened on February 20, 1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue. John Taylor Johnston, a railroad executive whose personal art collection seeded the museum, served as its first President, and the publisher George Palmer Putnam was its founding Superintendent. John Taylor Johnston was born in 1820 the son of James Boorman Johnston The Central Railroad of New Jersey, more commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a regional railroad with origins in the 1830s lasting until 1976 when This article is about the American book publisher who lived from 1814 to 1872 In 1873, occasioned by the Met's purchase of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriot antiquities, the museum took up temporary residence at the Douglas Mansion on West 14th Street; after negotiations with the City of New York, the Met acquired land on the east side of Central Park, where it built its permanent home, a red-brick Gothic Revival stone "mausoleum" designed by American architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould. Luigi Palma di Cesnola ( July 29, 1832 – November 21, 1904) an Italian American soldier and amateur archaeologist, was Central Park is a large public Urban park in New York City, with about twenty-five million visitors annually The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began Calvert Vaux ( December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an architect and landscape designer Jacob Wrey Mould (1825-1886 was an Architect, illustrator linguist and musician noted for his many contributions to the design and construction of New York ^[5] The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the ^[6][7][8]

As of 2007, the Met measures almost a quarter mile long and occupies more than two million square feet, more than 20 times the size of the original 1880 building. ^[9]

Overview

The facade of the Metropolitan Museum is one of the main features of New York City's "Museum Mile". Museum Mile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the City of New York, running from 82nd to 104th streets on the Upper East

The Met's permanent collection is cared for and exhibited by nineteen separate departments, each with a specialized staff of curators, restorers, and scholars. Curator (from Latin cura care means manager overseer. A curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution (e ^[1]

Represented in the permanent collection are works of art from classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean Ancient Egyptian art refers to the style of painting sculpture crafts and architecture developed by the Civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 See also Western art, History of painting, Western art history, History of art, Art history, Painting, Outline of painting Sculpture of the United States Visual arts of the United States refers to the history of Painting and Visual art in the United States. History of Modern art Roots in the 19th century Although modern Sculpture and Architecture are reckoned to have emerged at the end of the nineteenth The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine and Islamic art. African art constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth Asian art can refer to Art amongst many cultures in Asia. Many modern Asian artists seek to blend ancient Asian themes with contemporary artistic styles Oceanic art refers to the creative works made by the native peoples of the Pacific Islands and Australia, including areas as far apart as Hawaii and Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 4th century until the Fall of Constantinople Islamic art encompasses the arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people (not necessarily Muslim) who lived within the territory that was inhabited by culturally ^[2] The museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Armour (or armor) is protective covering most commonly manufactured from metals to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact ^[3] A number of notable interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Met's galleries. ^[4]

In addition to its permanent exhibitions, the Met organizes and hosts large travelling shows throughout the year. ^[10]

The Met's director from 1955 to his death on May 11, 1966, was James J. Rorimer. James J Rorimer (1905&ndash1966 was an American museum curator and the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was succeeded by Thomas Hoving, who served from March 17, 1967 to June 30, 1977. Thomas PF Hoving (born January 15, 1931) is an American museum executive and consultant and the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The current director is Philippe de Montebello, who announced January 8, 2008 that he planned to retire at the end of the year. Philippe de Montebello (born May 16, 1936 in Paris) has served since 1977 as the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ^[11]

History

Opening reception in the picture gallery at 681 Fifth Avenue, February 20, 1872. Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Wood engraving published in Frank Leslie's Weekly, March 9, 1872. Frank Leslie's Weekly, later often known in short as Leslie's Weekly was an American Illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1852 and continuing Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia. Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year

The Metropolitan Museum of Art first opened on February 20, 1872, housed in a building located at 681 Fifth Avenue in New York City. John Taylor Johnston, a railroad executive whose personal art collection seeded the museum, served as its first President, and the publisher George Palmer Putnam came on board as its founding Superintendent. John Taylor Johnston was born in 1820 the son of James Boorman Johnston This article is about the American book publisher who lived from 1814 to 1872 Under their guidance, the Met's holdings, initially consisting of a Roman stone sarcophagus and 174 mostly European paintings, quickly outgrew the available space. In 1873, occasioned by the Met's purchase of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriot antiquities, the museum decamped from Fifth Avenue and took up residence at the Douglas Mansion on West 14th Street. Luigi Palma di Cesnola ( July 29, 1832 – November 21, 1904) an Italian American soldier and amateur archaeologist, was However, these new accommodations were temporary.

After negotiations with the city of New York, the Met acquired land on the east side of Central Park, where it built its permanent home, a red-brick Gothic Revival stone "mausoleum" designed by American architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould. Central Park is a large public Urban park in New York City, with about twenty-five million visitors annually The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began Calvert Vaux ( December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an architect and landscape designer Jacob Wrey Mould (1825-1886 was an Architect, illustrator linguist and musician noted for his many contributions to the design and construction of New York ^[12] The Met has remained in this location ever since, and the original structure is still part of its current building. A host of additions over the years, including the distinctive Beaux-Arts facade, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and completed in 1926, have continued to expand the museum's physical structure. Beaux Arts architecture denotes the academic classical Architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. Richard Morris Hunt ( October 31 1827 – July 31, 1895) was a preeminent figure in the history of American Architecture. As of 2007, the Met measures almost a quarter mile long and occupies more than two million square feet, more than 20 times the size of the original 1880 building. ^[13]

American decorative arts

The American Decorative Arts Department includes about 12,000 examples of American decorative art, ranging from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century. The decorative arts are traditionally defined as ornamental and functional works in Ceramic, Wood, Glass, Metal, or Textile. Though the Met acquired its first major holdings of American decorative arts via a 1909 donation by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, wife of the financier Russell Sage, a decorative arts department specifically dedicated to American works was not established until 1934. (Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (Mrs Russell Sage ( 8 September[[ 828]]- 4 November[[ 918]] was an American philanthropist Russell Sage ( 4 August 1816 - 22 July 1906) was a Financier and politician from New York, United States One of the prizes of the American Decorative Arts department is its extensive collection of American stained glass. For the Blackford Oakes novel see Stained Glass (novel The term stained glass refers either to the material of coloured Glass or to the art This collection, probably the most comprehensive in the world, includes many pieces by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Louis Comfort Tiffany ( February 18, 1848 &ndash January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts The department is also well-known for its twenty-five period rooms, each of which recreates an entire room, furnishings and all, from a noted period or designer. The department's current holdings also include an extensive silver collection notable for containing numerous pieces by Paul Revere as well as works by Tiffany & Co.

American paintings and sculpture

Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze

Ever since its founding, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has placed a particular emphasis on collecting American art. Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Paul Revere (bap December 22, 1734 ( OS) / January 1 1735 (NS &ndash May 10, 1818) was an American Silversmith Tiffany & Co ( is a US jewelry and silverware company founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City Washington Crossing the Delaware is an 1851 oil-on-canvas Painting by German American Artist Emanuel Leutze. The first piece to enter the Met's collection was an allegorical sculpture by Hiram Powers titled California, acquired in 1870, which can still be seen in the Met's galleries today. Allegorical sculpture refers to sculptures that symbolize and particularly personify abstract ideas Hiram Powers ( June 29, 1805 - June 27, 1873) was a US neoclassical sculptor. In the following decades, the Met's collection of American paintings and sculpture has grown to include more than one thousand paintings, six hundred sculptures, and 2,600 drawings, covering the entire range of American art from the early Colonial period through the early twentieth century. Many of the best-known American paintings are held in the Met's collection, including a portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart and Emanuel Leutze's monumental Washington Crossing the Delaware. George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the Gilbert Charles Stuart (born Stewart) (December 3 1755 &ndash July 9 1828 was an American painter from Rhode Island. Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze ( May 24, 1816 &ndash July 18, 1868) was a German American history painter best-known for Washington Crossing the Delaware is an 1851 oil-on-canvas Painting by German American Artist Emanuel Leutze. The collection also includes masterpieces by such notable American painters as Winslow Homer, George Caleb Bingham, John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Thomas Eakins. Winslow Homer ( February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American Landscape painter and Printmaker George Caleb Bingham ( March 20, 1811 &ndash July 7, 1879) was an American artist whose work depicted his view of American life in the frontier John Singer Sargent (January 12 1856 &ndash April 14 1925 was the most successful portrait painter of his era During his career he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins ( July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was a realist painter, Photographer, sculptor

Ancient Near Eastern art

Beginning in the late 1800s, the Met started to acquire ancient art and artifacts from the Near East. B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century From a few cuneiform tablets and seals, the Met's collection of Near Eastern art has grown to more than 7,000 pieces. A seal can mean a wax seal bearing an impressed figure or an embossed figure in paper with the purpose of authenticating a document but the term can also mean any device for Representing a history of the region beginning in the Neolithic Period and encompassing the fall of the Sassanian Empire and the end of Late Antiquity, the collection includes works from the Sumerian, Hittite, Sassanian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Elamite cultures (among others), as well as an extensive collection of unique Bronze Age objects. The Neolithic (from Greek νεολιθικός — neolithikos from νέος neos, "new" + λίθος lithos The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire Late Antiquity (c 300-600 is a Periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Elamite is an Extinct language, which was spoken by the ancient Elamites. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for The highlights of the collection include a set of monumental stone lammasu, or guardian figures, from the Northwest Palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II. The Sumerian word lama, which is rendered in Akkadian as lamassu, refers to a beneficient protective female deity Ashur-nasir-pal II ( Transliteration: Aššur-nâṣir-apli, meaning " Ashur is guardian of the heir" was king of Assyria from 884 BC-859

Arms and armor

Arms and armor, Middle Ages main hall

The Met's Department of Arms and Armor is one of the museum's most popular collections. The distinctive "parade" of armored figures on horseback installed in the first-floor Arms and Armor gallery is one of the most recognizable images of the museum. The department's focus on "outstanding craftsmanship and decoration", including pieces intended solely for display, means that the collection is strongest in late medieval European pieces and Japanese pieces from the fifth through the nineteenth centuries. The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries (AD 1300–1499 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. However, these are not the only cultures represented in Arms and Armor; in fact, the collection spans more geographic regions than almost any other department, including weapons and armor from dynastic Egypt, ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the ancient Near East, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, as well as American firearms (especially Colt firearms) from the nineteenth and 20th centuries. The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt c The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America Colt's Manufacturing Company ( CMC --formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is a United States Firearms manufacturer founded in Among the collection's 15,000 objects are many pieces made for and used by kings and princes, including armor belonging to Henry II of France and Ferdinand I of Germany. Henry II (Henri II (31 March 1519 &ndash 10 July 1559 of the House of Valois and the son and successor of Francis I, was King of France from 31 Ferdinand I Holy Roman Emperor ( Alcalá de Henares (near Madrid) Kingdom of Castile (now Spain) 10 March 1503 &ndash

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Though the Met first acquired a group of Peruvian antiquities in 1882, the museum did not begin a concerted effort to collect works from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas until 1969, when American businessman and philanthropist Nelson A. Rockefeller donated his more than 3,000-piece collection to the museum. A businessperson (also businessman or businesswoman) is someone who is employed at usually a profit-oriented enterprise, or more specifically someone Philanthropy is the act of donating money goods services time and/or effort to support a socially beneficial cause with a defined objective and with no financial or material Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller ( July 8, 1908 January 26, 1979) was the forty-first Vice President of the United States, the forty-ninth Today, the Met's collection contains more than 11,000 pieces from sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands and the Americas and is housed in the 40,000-square-foot (4,000 m²) Rockefeller Wing on the south end of the museum. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries The Pacific Ocean contains an estimated 20000 to 30000 Islands (the exact number has yet to be precisely determined The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America The collection ranges from 40,000-year-old Australian Aboriginal rock paintings, to a group of fifteen-foot high memorial poles carved by the Asmat people of New Guinea, to a priceless collection of ceremonial and personal objects from the Nigerian Court of Benin. Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. The Asmat are an Ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in the Papua province of Indonesia. New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal The range of materials represented in the Africa, Oceania, and Americas collection is undoubtedly the widest of any department at the Met, including everything from precious metals to porcupine quills. Porcupines are Rodents with a coat of sharp spines or quills that defend them from predators

Asian art

Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa

The Met's Asian department holds a collection of Asian art that is arguably the most comprehensive in the West. was a Japanese Artist, Ukiyo-e painter and Printmaker of the Edo period. is a famous woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai. A literal translation of the Japanese name would be "Off Kanagawa the back (or underside of a wave The collection dates back almost to the founding of the museum: many of the philanthropists who made the earliest gifts to the museum included Asian art in their collections. Today, an entire wing of the museum is dedicated to the Asian collection, which contains more than 60,000 pieces and spans 4,000 years of Asian art. Every Asian civilization is represented in the Met's Asian department, and the pieces on display include every type of decorative art, from painting and printmaking to sculpture and metalworking. The department is well-known for its comprehensive collection of Chinese calligraphy and painting, as well as for its Nepalese and Tibetan works. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The art of Calligraphy is widely practiced and revered in the East Asian Civilizations that use or used Chinese characters. Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia. Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European However, not only "art" and ritual objects are represented in the collection; many of the best-known pieces are functional objects. The Asian wing even contains a complete Ming Dynasty garden court, modeled on a courtyard in the Garden of the Master of the Fishing Nets in Suzhou. The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led Suzhou ( ancient name 吳) is a City on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu

The Costume Institute

In 1937, the Museum of Costume Art joined with the Met and became its Costume Institute department. Today, its collection contains more than 80,000 costumes and accessories. Due to the fragile nature of the items in the collection, the Costume Institute does not maintain a permanent installation. Instead, every year it holds two separate shows in the Met's galleries using costumes from its collection, with each show centering on a specific designer or theme. In past years, Costume Institute shows organized around famous designers such as Chanel and Gianni Versace have drawn significant crowds to the Met. Chanel SA ʃəˈnɛɫ) is a Parisian fashion house created by Coco Chanel. Gianni Versace ( December 2, 1946 &ndash July 15, 1997) was an Italian Fashion designer and founder of Gianni Versace S The Costume Institute's annual Benefit Gala, co-chaired by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, is an extremely popular, if exclusive, event in the fashion world; in 2007, the 700 available tickets started at $6,500 per person. Vogue is a Fashion and lifestyle Magazine published in eighteen countries by Condé Nast Publications. Anna Wintour OBE (born November 3 1949 in London) is the Editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since ^[14]

Drawings and prints

Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer

Though other departments contain significant numbers of drawings and prints, the Drawings and Prints department specifically concentrates on North American pieces and western European works produced after the Middle Ages. Albrecht Dürer (ˈalbʀɛçt ˈdyʀɐ ( May 21, 1471 &ndash April 6, 1528) was a German painter, Printmaker Drawing is a Visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium Printmaking is the Process of making artworks by Printing, normally on Paper. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' Currently, the Drawings and Prints collection contains more than 11,000 drawings, 1. 5 million prints, and twelve thousand illustrated books. The collection has been steadily growing ever since the first bequest of 670 drawings donated to the museum by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1880. Cornelius Vanderbilt ( May 27 1794 &ndash January 4 1877) also known by the Sobriquets The Commodore or The great masters of European painting, who produced many more sketches and drawings than actual paintings, are extensively represented in the Drawing and Prints collection. The department's holdings contain major drawings by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Rembrandt, as well as prints and etchings by Van Dyck, Dürer, and Degas among many others. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15 1606 &ndash October 4 1669 was a Dutch painter and etcher. Albrecht Dürer (ˈalbʀɛçt ˈdyʀɐ ( May 21, 1471 &ndash April 6, 1528) was a German painter, Printmaker

Egyptian art

Though the majority of the Met's initial holdings of Egyptian art came from private collections, items uncovered during the museum's own archeological excavations, carried out between 1906 and 1941, constitute almost half of the current collection. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. More than 36,000 separate pieces of Egyptian art from the Paleolithic era through the Roman era constitute the Met's Egyptian collection, and almost all of them are on display in the museum's massive wing of 40 Egyptian galleries. The term Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic) (from Greek παλαιός palaios, " Old " and λίθος Lithos, "stone" Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Among the most valuable pieces in the Met's Egyptian collection are a set of 24 wooden models, discovered in a tomb in Deir el-Bahri in 1920. Deir el-Bahri (Arabic دير البحري dayr al-baḥrī, literally meaning "The Northern Monastery " is a complex of Mortuary temples and tombs These models depict, in unparalleled detail, a veritable cross-section of Egyptian life in the early Middle Kingdom : boats, gardens, and scenes of daily life. The Middle Kingdom is the period in the history of Ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty However, the popular centerpiece of the Egyptian Art department continues to be the Temple of Dendur. The Temple of Dendur is a Nubian temple built during the Roman period around 15 BC Dismantled by the Egyptian government to save it from rising waters caused by the building of the Aswan High Dam, the large sandstone temple was given to the United States in 1965 and assembled in the Met's Sackler Wing in 1978. Aswan (Assuan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. Sandstone is a Sedimentary rock composed mainly of Sand -size Mineral or rock grains. Situated in a large room, partially surrounded by a reflecting pool and illuminated by a wall of windows opening onto Central Park, the Temple of Dendur is one of the Met's most enduring attractions.

European paintings

Young Woman with a Water Pitcher by Johannes Vermeer

The Met has one of the world's best collections of European paintings. Johannes or Jan Vermeer (baptized in Delft with the name Joannis on October 31 1632, and buried in the same city under the name Jan Though the collection numbers only around 2,200 pieces, it contains many of the world's most instantly recognizable paintings. The bulk of the Met's purchasing has always been in this department, primarily focusing on Old Masters and nineteenth-century European paintings, with an emphasis on French, Italian and Dutch artists. " Old Master " (or " old master " is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such Many great artists are represented in remarkable depth in the Met's holdings: the museum owns thirty-seven paintings by Monet, twenty-one oils by Cezanne, and eighteen Rembrandts including Aristotle With a Bust of Homer. Claude Monet ( French klod mɔnɛ also known as Oscar-Claude Monet or Claude Oscar Monet (14 November 1840 &ndash 5 December 1926 was a founder Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15 1606 &ndash October 4 1669 was a Dutch painter and etcher. The Met's five paintings by Vermeer represent the largest collection of the artist's work anywhere in the world. Johannes or Jan Vermeer (baptized in Delft with the name Joannis on October 31 1632, and buried in the same city under the name Jan Other highlights of the collection include Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat, Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Harvesters, Georges de La Tour's The Fortune Teller, and Jacques-Louis David's The Death of Socrates. Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c 1525 &ndash September 9, 1569) was a Netherlandish Renaissance Georges de La Tour ( Vic-sur-Seille, March 13, 1593 &ndash Lunéville, January 30, 1652) was a painter, Jacques-Louis David (August 30 1748 &ndash December 29 1825 was a highly influential French painter in the Neoclassical style considered to be In recent decades, the Met has carried out a policy of deaccessioning its "minor" holdings in order to purchase a smaller number of "world-class" pieces. Though this policy remains controversial, it has gained a number of outstanding (and outstandingly expensive) masterpieces for the European Paintings collection, beginning with Velázquez's Juan de Pareja in 1971. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez ( June 6, 1599 &ndash August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter who was the leading Juan de Pareja ( 1610 - 1670) a native of Seville ( Spain) and Mulatto son of a female slave is primarily known as a member of the household One of The Met's latest purchases is Duccio's Madonna and Child, which cost the museum more than 45 million dollars, more than twice the amount it had paid for any previous painting. Duccio di Buoninsegna (c 1255-1260 &ndash c 1318-1319 was one of the most influential Italian artists of his time Madonna and Child (also known as the Stoclet Madonna or Stroganoff Madonna) is a Panel painting by Italian medieval The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been The painting itself is only slightly larger than 9 by 6 inches, but has been called "the Met's Mona Lisa". Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a Poplar panel by

European sculpture and decorative arts

European sculpture court

Though European painting may have its own department, other European decorative arts are well-represented at the Met. In fact, the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts collection is one of the largest departments at the Met, holding in excess of 50,000 separate pieces from the 1400s through the early twentieth century. Though the collection is particularly concentrated in Renaissance sculpture -- much of which can be seen in situ surrounded by contemporary furnishings and decoration -- it also contains comprehensive holdings of furniture, jewelry, glass and ceramic pieces, tapestries, textiles, and timepieces and mathematical instruments. Visitors can enter dozens of completely furnished period rooms, transplanted in their entirety into the Met's galleries. The collection even includes an entire sixteenth-century patio from the Spanish castle of Vélez Blanco, meticulously reconstructed in a two-story gallery. A patio (from the Spanish patio meaning 'back garden' or 'backyard' is an outdoor space generally used for dining or Recreation that often adjoins a Vélez-Blanco is a Municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain Sculptural highlights of the sprawling department include Bernini's Bacchanal, a cast of Rodin's The Burghers of Calais, and several unique pieces by Houdon, including his Bust of Voltaire and his famous portrait of his daughter Sabine. "Bernini" redirects here For people named Bernini see Bernini (surname. Auguste Rodin (born François-Auguste-René Rodin; November 12 1840–November 17 1917 was a French artist most famous as a sculptor. The Burghers of Calais ( Les Bourgeois de Calais) is one of the most famous sculptures by Auguste Rodin, completed in 1888 Jean-Antoine Houdon ( March 20, 1741 &ndash July 15, 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor François-Marie Arouet ( 21 November 1694 30 May 1778) better known by the Pen name Voltaire, was a French

Greek and Roman art

Roman gallery

The Met's collection of Greek and Roman art contains more than 35,000^[15] works dated through A. D. 312. The Greek and Roman collection dates back to the founding of the museum -- in fact, the museum's first accessioned object was a Roman sarcophagus, still currently on display. Though the collection naturally concentrates on items from ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, these historical regions represent a wide range of cultures and artistic styles, from classic Greek black-figure and red-figure vases to carved Roman tunic pins. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The black-figure pottery ( Greek, ' μελανόμορφαmelanomorpha) technique is a style of ancient Greek pottery painting in which the decoration appears Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. A tunic is any of several types of Clothing for the body with or without Sleeves and of various lengths reaching from the hips to the ankles Several highlights of the collection include the Euphronios krater depicting the death of Sarpedon (whose ownership has since been transferred to the Republic of Italy), the monumental Amathus sarcophagus, and a magnificently detailed Etruscan chariot known as the "Monteleone chariot". The Euphronios krater (or Sarpedon krater) is an ancient Greek Terra cotta Krater, a bowl used for mixing wine with water. In Greek mythology, Sarpedon (Σαρπηδὠν referred to at least three different people The Monteleone chariot is an Etruscan Chariot dated to ca 530 BC. The collection also contains many pieces from far earlier than the Greek or Roman empires -- among the most remarkable are a collection of early Cycladic sculptures from the mid-third millennium BCE, many so abstract as to seem almost modern. The CYCLADES Packet switching network was an extremely influential French network system in the early 1970s similar to the ARPANET. The Greek and Roman galleries also contain several large classical wall paintings and reliefs from different periods, including an entire reconstructed bedroom from a noble villa in Boscoreale, excavated after its entombment by the eruption of Vesuvius in A. A villa was originally an Upper-class Country house, though since its origins in Roman times the idea and function of a villa has evolved considerably Boscoreale is a Comune and town in the Province of Naples, Campania, located in the Mount Vesuvius (in Italian Monte Vesuvio and in Latin Mons Vesuvius) is an active Stratovolcano east of Naples D. 79. In 2007, the Met's Greek and Roman galleries were expanded to approximately 60,000 square feet (6,000 m²), allowing the majority of the collection to be on permanent display. ^[16]

Islamic art

The Met's collection of Islamic art is not confined strictly to religious art, though a significant number of the objects in the Islamic collection were originally created for religious use or as decorative elements in mosques. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger Much of the 12,000 strong collection consists of secular items, including ceramics and textiles, from Islamic cultures ranging from Spain to North Africa to Central Asia. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south In fact, the Islamic Art department's collection of miniature paintings from Iran and Mughal India are a highlight of the collection. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most Calligraphy both religious and secular is well-represented in the Islamic Art department, from the official decrees of Suleiman the Magnificent to a number of Qur'an manuscripts reflecting different periods and styles of calligraphy. Calligraphy (from Greek kallos "beauty" + graphẽ "writing" is the art of writing (Mediavilla 1996 17 Suleiman I (سليمان Sulaymān, Süleyman almost always Kanuni Sultan Süleyman) ( 6 November 1494 5/ 6 September 1566 The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran As with many other departments at the Met, the Islamic Art galleries contain many interior pieces, including the entire reconstructed Nur Al-Din Room from an early 18th century house in Damascus. Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. The Islamic Arts galleries are undergoing expansion and are projected to be closed until early 2008. Until that time, a number of items from the collection are on temporary display throughout the museum.

Robert Lehman Collection

On the passing of banker Robert Lehman in 1969, his Foundation donated close to 3,000 works of art to the museum. Robert Lehman (September 29 1891 August 9 1969 was an American banker Housed in the "Robert Lehman Wing," the museum refers to the collection as "one of the most extraordinary private art collections ever assembled in the United States". ^[17] To emphasize the personal nature of the Robert Lehman Collection, the Met housed the collection in a special set of galleries which evoked the interior of Lehman's richly decorated townhouse; this intentional separation of the Collection as a "museum within the museum" met with mixed criticism and approval at the time, though the acquisition of the collection was seen as a coup for the Met. Historically in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries a townhouse (or a "house in town" was a residence of a peer or member of the ^[18] Unlike other departments at the Met, the Robert Lehman collection does not concentrate on a specific style or period of art; rather, it reflects Lehman's personal interests. Lehman the collector concentrated heavily on paintings of the Italian Renaissance, particularly the Senese school. The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Siena. Paintings in the collection include masterpieces by Botticelli and Domenico Veneziano, as well as works by a significant number of Spanish painters, El Greco and Goya among them. Domenico Veneziano (c 1410 &ndash 1461 was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. El Greco' ("The Greek " 1541 &ndash April 7 1614 was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance Lehman's collection of drawings by the Old Masters, featuring works by Rembrandt and Dürer, is particularly valuable for its breadth and quality. " Old Master " (or " old master " is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15 1606 &ndash October 4 1669 was a Dutch painter and etcher. Albrecht Dürer (ˈalbʀɛçt ˈdyʀɐ ( May 21, 1471 &ndash April 6, 1528) was a German painter, Printmaker ^[19] Princeton University Press has documented the massive collection in a multi-volume book series published as "The Robert Lehman Collection Catalogues. The Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. "

Libraries

The main library at the Met is the Thomas J. Watson Library, named after its benefactor. Thomas John Watson Sr ( February 17, 1874 &ndash June 19, 1956) was the American president of International Business Machines The Watson Library primarily collects books related to the history of art, including exhibition catalogues and auction sale publications, and generally attempts to reflect the emphasis of the museum's permanent collection. Several of the museum's departments have their own specialized libraries relating to their area of expertise. The Watson Library and the individual departments' libraries also hold substantial examples of early or historically important books which are works of art in their own right. Among these are books by Dürer and Athanasius Kircher, as well as editions of the seminal Surrealist magazine "VVV" and a copy of "Le Description de l'Egypte," commissioned in 1803 by Napoleon Bonaparte and considered one of the greatest achievements of French publishing. Albrecht Dürer (ˈalbʀɛçt ˈdyʀɐ ( May 21, 1471 &ndash April 6, 1528) was a German painter, Printmaker Athanasius Kircher (sometimes erroneously spelled Kirchner) was a 17th century German Jesuit Scholar who published around 40 works most Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early-1920s and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members VVV was a journal devoted to the dissemination of Surrealism, published in New York City from 1942 through 1944. 1803 ( MDCCCIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe.

Several of the departmental libraries are open to members of the public without prior appointment. The Library and Teacher Resource Center, Ruth and Harold Uris Center for Education, is open to visitors of all ages to study art and art history and to learn about the Museum, its exhibitions and permanent collection. The Robert Goldwater Library in the department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas documents the visual arts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Native and Precolumbian America. The Robert Goldwater Library in the department of the Arts of Africa Oceania and the Americas, of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a noncirculating research library African art constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. It is open to adult researchers, including college and graduate students. Most of the other departmental libraries are for museum staff only or are open to the general public by appointment only.

Medieval art

The Limbourg brothers' Belles Heures of Jean of France, Duke of Berry

The Met's collection of medieval art consists of a comprehensive range of Western art from the 4th century through the early 16th century, as well as Byzantine and pre-medieval European antiquities not included in the ancient Greek and Roman collection. The Limbourg brothers, or in Dutch Gebroeders van Limburg ( Herman, Paul, and Johan; fl Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 4th century until the Fall of Constantinople Like the Islamic collection, the Medieval collection contains a broad range of two- and three-dimensional art, with religious objects heavily represented. In total, the Medieval Art department's permanent collection numbers about 11,000 separate objects, divided between the main museum building on Fifth Avenue and The Cloisters. The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle Ages.

Main building

The medieval collection in the main Metropolitan building, centered on the first-floor medieval gallery, contains about six thousand separate objects. While a great deal of European medieval art is on display in these galleries, most of the European pieces are concentrated at the Cloisters (see below). However, this allows the main galleries to display much of the Met's Byzantine art side-by-side with European pieces. The main gallery is host to a wide range of tapestries and church and funerary statuary, while side galleries display smaller works of precious metals and ivory, including reliquary pieces and secular items. A reliquary (also referred to as a Shrine or by the French term Chasse) is a container for Relics These may be the physical The main gallery, with its high arched ceiling, also serves double duty as the annual site of the Met's elaborately decorated Christmas tree.

The Cloisters

The Cloisters

Main article: The Cloisters

The Cloisters was a principal project of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who was a major benefactor of the Met. The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle Ages. The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle Ages. John Davison Rockefeller Jr (January 29 1874 &ndash May 11 1960 was a major Philanthropist and a pivotal member of the prominent Rockefeller family. Located in Fort Tryon Park and completed in 1938, it is a separate building dedicated solely to medieval art. FortTryonjbjpg|thumb|Fort Tryon]] Fort Tryon Park is a public park located in the Inwood section of the New York City borough of Manhattan The Cloisters collection was originally that of a separate museum, assembled by George Grey Barnard and acquired in toto by Rockefeller in 1925 as a gift to the Met. George Grey Barnard ( May 24, 1863 - April 24, 1938) was an American sculptor. ^[20]

The Cloisters are so named on account of the five medieval French cloisters whose salvaged structures were incorporated into the modern building, and the five thousand objects at the Cloisters are strictly limited to medieval European works. A cloister (from Latin claustrum) is a part of Cathedral, Monastic and Abbey architecture The collection exhibited here features many items of outstanding beauty and historical importance; among these are the Belles Heures du Duc de Berry illustrated by the Limbourg Brothers in 1409, the Romanesque altar cross known as the "Cloisters Cross" or "Bury Cross," and the seven heroically detailed tapestries depicting the Hunt of the Unicorn. The Limbourg brothers, or in Dutch Gebroeders van Limburg ( Herman, Paul, and Johan; fl Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century or later depending on region Tapestry is a form of Textile art. It is woven by hand on a vertical Loom. The Hunt of the Unicorn is a series of seven tapestries dating from 1495 &ndash 1505.

Modern art

With more than 10,000 artworks, primarily by European and American artists, the modern art collection occupies 60,000 square feet (6,000 m²), of gallery space and contains many iconic modern works. Cornerstones of the collection include Picasso's portrait of Gertrude Stein, Jasper Johns's White Flag, Jackson Pollock's Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), and Max Beckmann's triptych Beginning. Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso (October 25 1881 &ndash April 8 1973 Gertrude Stein ( February 3, 1874 &ndash July 27, 1946) was an American Writer who spent most of her life in France Jasper Johns Jr (born May 15, 1930 in Augusta Georgia) is a contemporary American artist who primarily works in painting and Printmaking Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28 1912 &ndash August 11 1956 was an influential American painter and a major force in the abstract expressionist movement Max Beckmann ( February 12 1884 – December 28 1950) was a German painter, draftsman, Printmaker, A triptych (pronounced "trip-tick" trip'tik (or US: 'tɹʷɪp Certain artists are represented in remarkable depth, for a museum whose focus is not exclusively on modern art: for example, the collection contains forty paintings by Paul Klee, spanning his entire career. Due to the Met's long history, "contemporary" paintings acquired in years past have often migrated to other collections at the museum, particularly to the American and European Paintings departments.

Musical instruments

The Met's collection of musical instruments, with about five thousand examples of musical instruments from all over the world, is virtually unique among major museums. The collection began in 1889 with a donation of several hundred instruments by Lucy W. Drexel, but the department's current focus came through donations over the following years by Mary Elizabeth Adams, wife of John Crosby Brown. Instruments were (and continue to be) included in the collection not only on aesthetic grounds, but also insofar as they embodied technical and social aspects of their cultures of origin. The modern Musical Instruments collection is encyclopedic in scope; every continent is represented at virtually every stage of its musical life. Highlights of the department's collection include several Stradivari violins, a collection of Asian instruments made from precious metals, and the oldest surviving piano, a 1720 model by Bartolomeo Cristofori. Antonio Stradivari (1644 &ndash December 18 1737 was an Italian Luthier, a crafter of Stringed instruments such as Violins cellos The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco ( May 4, 1655 - January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments generally regarded Many of the instruments in the collection are playable, and the department encourages their use by holding concerts and demonstrations by guest musicians.

Photographs

The Met's collection of photographs, numbering more than 20,000 in total, is centered on five major collections plus additional acquisitions by the museum. A photograph (often shortened to photo) is an Image created by Light falling on a light-sensitive surface usually Photographic film or an electronic Alfred Stieglitz, a famous photographer himself, donated the first major collection of photographs to the museum, which included a comprehensive survey of Photo-Secessionist works, a rich set of master prints by Edward Steichen, and an outstanding collection of Stieglitz's photographs from his own studio. Alfred Stieglitz (January 1 1864 &ndash July 13 1946 was an American photographer who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making Photography an acceptable Pictorialism was a photographic movement in vogue from around 1885 following the widespread introduction of the dry-plate process Edward Steichen (March 27 1879 – March 25 1973 was an American photographer, painter, and Art gallery and Museum curator born The Met supplemented Stieglitz's gift with the 8,500-piece Gilman Paper Company Collection, the Rubel Collection, and the Ford Motor Company Collection, which respectively provided the collection with early French and American photography, early British photography, and post-WWI American and European photography. The Gilman Paper Company Collection is an archive of original photographic prints and negatives and it was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The museum also acquired Walker Evans's personal collection of photographs, a particular coup considering the high demand for his works. For the off-road and NASCAR driver see Walker Evans (racer. Walker Evans ( November 3, 1903 &ndash April 10, Though the department gained a permanent gallery in 1997, not all of the department's holdings are on display at any given time, due to the sensitive materials represented in the photography collection. However, the Photographs department has produced some of the best-received temporary exhibits in the Met's recent past, including a Diane Arbus retrospective and an extensive show devoted to spirit photography. Diane Arbus ( March 14 1923 – July 26 1971) was an American Photographer, noted for her portraits of people on the

Special exhibitions

Frank Stella on the Roof features in stainless steel and carbon fiber several works by American artist Frank Stella. Frank Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter and Printmaker. This exhibition is set in The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, offering views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline.

Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art of the Papuan Gulf presents some 60 sculptures and 30 historical photographs from the Gulf province of Papua New Guinea.

Acquisitions and deaccessioning

During the 1970s, under the directorship of Thomas Hoving, the Met revised its deaccessioning policy. Thomas PF Hoving (born January 15, 1931) is an American museum executive and consultant and the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A Museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions Education, Research Under the new policy, the Met set its sights on acquiring "world-class" pieces, regularly funding the purchases by selling mid- to high-value items from its collection. ^[21] Though the Met had always sold duplicate or minor items from its collection to fund the acquisition of new pieces, the Met's new policy was significantly more aggressive and wide-ranging than before, and allowed the deaccessioning of items with higher values which would normally have precluded their sale. The new policy provoked a great deal of criticism (in particular, from the New York Times) but had its intended effect.

Many of the items then purchased with funds generated by the more liberal deaccessioning policy are now considered the "stars" of the Met's collection, including Velázquez's Juan de Pareja and the Euphronios krater depicting the death of Sarpedon. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez ( June 6, 1599 &ndash August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter who was the leading Juan de Pareja ( 1610 - 1670) a native of Seville ( Spain) and Mulatto son of a female slave is primarily known as a member of the household The Euphronios krater (or Sarpedon krater) is an ancient Greek Terra cotta Krater, a bowl used for mixing wine with water. In Greek mythology, Sarpedon (Σαρπηδὠν referred to at least three different people In the years since the Met began its new deaccessioning policy, other museums have begun to emulate it with aggressive deaccessioning programs of their own. ^[22] The Met has continued the policy in recent years, selling such valuable pieces as Edward Steichen's 1904 photograph The Pond-Moonlight (of which another copy was already in the Met's collection) for a record price of $2. Edward Steichen (March 27 1879 – March 25 1973 was an American photographer, painter, and Art gallery and Museum curator born 9 million. ^[23]

In popular culture

• The Met was famously used as the setting for much of the Newbery Medal-winning children's book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, in which the two young protagonists run away from home and secretly stay several nights in the museum. The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association (ALA to the author of the From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler is a novel by E However, Michelangelo's Angel statue, central to the book's plot, is purely fictional and not actually part of the museum's collection.

• The 1948 film Portrait of Jennie was filmed at the both the Museum and The Cloisters. Portrait of Jennie is a 1948 Fantasy film based on the novella by Robert Nathan. The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle Ages.

• Blair Waldorf, Serena van der Woodsen, and a few select classmates at the Constance Billard School for Girls from Gossip Girl TV series usually eat their lunch on the steps of the Met. Gossip Girl is an American television Teen drama inspired by the popular novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar

• The Met was featured as the first level in the tactical first-person shooter Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear

• The 1999 version of The Thomas Crown Affair uses the Met as a major setting; however, only the exterior scenes were shot at the museum, with the interior scenes filmed on soundstages. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Rogue Spear is a tactical First-person shooter computer game developed and published by The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 Heist film by John McTiernan, a Remake of the 1968 film of the same name

• In 1983, there was a Sesame Street special entitled Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the cast goes to visit the museum on-location. Sesame Street is an American educational Children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard combining

• An episode of Inspector Gadget entitled "Art Heist" had Gadget and Penny and Brain travel to the Met, with Gadget being assigned to protect the artwork. Inspector Gadget is an Animated television series about a clumsy absent-minded and oblivious Detective, Inspector Gadget who is a human being with But M. A. D. Agents steal the masterpieces and plan to replace them with fakes.

• In the 2007 movie I Am Legend, the main character is shown fishing in the ruined Egyptian Wing. I Am Legend is a 2007 post-apocalyptic Science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith.

• The Met is featured in a season four episode of Project Runway, where five remaining designers must create an outfit based on a work of art. Project Runway is a Peabody Award -winning American Reality television series on the Bravo network which focuses on Fashion design.

Gallery of paintings

Bingham	Bruegel	Cassatt	Cézanne	David
Dioscorides	El Greco	Homer	De La Tour	Manet
	Titian	Turner	Van Eyck	Van Gogh

See also

• List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
• Education in New York City

References

External links

• Metropolitan Museum of Art: official site
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents a Timeline of Art History
• The New York Times Metropolitan Museum of Art Topic Page
• Watsonline: The Catalog of the Libraries of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Artwork owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Metropolitan Museum of Art is at coordinates 40°46′46″N 73°57′47″W / 40.779447, -73.96311 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)Coordinates: 40°46′46″N 73°57′47″W / 40.779447, -73.96311 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)