Why the Metropolitan Museum of Art is One of the Best Place to Visit in New York

Over 2 million works of art from around the world andmasterpieces by Rembrandt and Vermeer. There are
throughout history are housed at the Metropolitanalso many Islamic exhibits, plus the greatest collection
Museum of Art. Founded in 1870 by a group of artistsof Egyptian art outside Cairo.
and philanthropists who dreamed of an American artASIAN ART:
institution to rival those of Europe, this collection isMany outstanding galleries contain masterpieces of
thought to be most comprehensive in the WesternChinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Southeast
world. Works date from prehistoric times to theAsian art, dating from the second millennium BC to the
present. The museum opened here in 1880 and houses20th century. A full-scale Ming-style Chinese scholar's
collections from all continents. Part of the first floor isgarden was built by craftspeople from Souzhou as the
under renovation, but will reopen in 2007 with a newpart of the first cultural exchange between the United
Roman Court and Ertuscan gallery.States and the people's Republic of China. The
Gallery Guidemuseum also has one of the finest collection of Sung
Most of the collections are housed on the two mainand Yuan painting's in the world, Chinese Buddhist
floors. Works from 19 curatorial areas are in themonumental sculptures, fine Chinese ceramics and
permanent galleries with designated sections ofjade, and an important display of the arts of ancient
temporary exhibitions. Central on the first and secondChina.
floors are European painting, sculpture, and decorativeCOSTUME INSTITUTE
art.There is always a portion of the 75,000-piece
Exploring the Metropolitan:collection of costumes, dating from the 17th century to
The treasure of "the Met" include a vast collection ofthe present, on display in these new state of-the-art
American art and more than 2,500 paintings, includinggalleries.