This Note to the Reader explains selected terms and practices mentioned elsewhere
on this website.
The Permanent Collection, Special Exhibitions, and Collection
Database
Permanent Collection
The term "permanent collection" refers to the holdings of a museum. These objects
are owned and cared for by the Museum. Throughout the life of a museum, objects
are acquired, or accessioned, to expand and enrich the collection. On occasion,
works are
deaccessioned.
At the Metropolitan Museum, founded in 1870, the permanent collection consists of
more than two million works of art from around the world, dating from ancient through
modern times. The collection is cared for, studied, and exhibited by specialized
curatorial departments.
For information about the Museum's policies that guide the development and care
of its permanent collection, see the
Collections Management Policy.
Works on View
Works of art in the permanent collection are displayed in the galleries, which may
bear the names of donors who have provided funding for their installation or renovation.
Due to the extremely large number of works in the Museum's collection, not all works
of art may be on view on a particular day. Objects that are not on view may be in
storage or conservation, or on loan to other institutions. To find out if a particular
work of art is on view when you visit the Museum, you may check with a Visitor Services
representative at the Information Desk in the Great Hall. Please provide as much
information about the work of art as possible, including artist, title, nationality,
type of object, and approximate date of creation.
Information on many objects in the permanent collection is available
in the
Collection Database.
Special Exhibitions
Works of art are also presented in temporary
special exhibitions.
These exhibitions, conceived and organized by curators, concentrate on particular
artists, media, or countries or geographic regions. Special exhibitions may comprise
objects from the permanent collection or objects on loan from other institutions
as well as from the permanent collection. Special exhibitions are on view for varying
lengths of time, usually two to three months or more. Often organized in conjunction
with other institutions, exhibitions may travel to multiple venues, bringing the
material to a larger audience.
Collection Database
The Collection Database is a searchable database of works of art and related materials
from the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. An individual database
record includes information about an object as well as images, when available. Visitors
may search the database by artist, title, subject, or other keywords (see
Collection Database Keyword Search). The Museum's curators have selected
several works of note within the Collection Database as highlights of the collection.
Due to the extremely large number of objects in the Museum's permanent collection,
not all works of art are currently available in the Collection Database. Furthermore,
information contained in the database records is, in some cases, incomplete, and
all information is subject to change according to ongoing research.
The Collection Database has been made possible in part by the Oceanic Heritage
Foundation.
Collection Database
Keyword Search
The keyword search for the Collection Database allows you to search for works of
art in a number of different ways. All searches are case insensitive, so [PICASSO],
[Picasso], and [picasso] will all return the same results. Diacritics (such as accent
marks) are supported, but do not need to be included, so [Édouard Manet]
and [Edouard Manet] will return the same results. In the following examples, square
brackets are used to denote a keyword; these brackets do not need to be entered
as part of the search string.
- Default search: As a default, the keyword search will return any records
where all of the terms exist, so: [Greek revival house] = [Greek] + [revival] +
[house].
- Exact phrase search: In order to narrow results, you can search for an exact
phrase by using double quotes (""). Please be aware that searching for an exact
phrase may limit your results, so: ["Greek revival house"] = [Greek revival house].
However, this search will not return records with the exact phrase ["Greek house"].
- Wildcard search: You can use the asterisk (*) to match incomplete or partial
words or phrases. Simply add an asterisk immediately after any text, so: [statue*]
= [statue] + [statuette], etc., [cart*] = [cart] + [cartouche] + [cartography],
etc.
- Logical operators: Keyword search supports logical operators [AND], [OR],
and [NOT]. [AND] requires that both terms must exist. (Note that the default search,
as explained above, already assumes the [AND] operator, so [Greek house] and [Greek
AND house] both = all records where both terms exists. The logical operator [OR]
means that either term can exist, so [Greek OR house] = all records where either
term exists. [NOT] explicitly excludes a term, so [Greek NOT house] = all records
with the term [Greek] but which do not contain the term [house]. Please note that
logical operators can only be used between words and phrases and cannot be used
as the first element in a keyword search. If a logical operator occurs within an
exact phrase (i.e., within double quotes) it will be considered part of that phrase,
so: ["Walden or Life in the Woods"] = all records with the exact phrase.
- Combination search: For more sophisticated searches, one or more of the above
techniques can be combined, for example: ["greek revivial house" AND "walker evans"]
= all records with both exact phrases; [kouros OR statue*] = all records with either
the term "kouros" or the partial term "statue," such as "statuette"; [greek house
NOT "walker evans"] = all records where the terms "greek" and "house" both exist,
but which do not include the exact phrase "walker evans"].
Museum Curatorial Departments
Curatorial departments care for and study the objects in their collections and make
them accessible to qualified researchers. For information about the Museum's policies
that guide the development and care of its permanent collection, see the
Collections Management Policy. The departments are also responsible for
organizing and mounting special exhibitions in their areas of concentration, often
working in conjunction with other departments and with other institutions. See
Curatorial Departments for a
list of departments, as well as introductory texts that explain each department's
scope.
Departments expand their holdings by accessioning works of art through bequests,
gifts, and purchases. Each year the Museum's new accessions are listed in the
Annual Report, and certain works are featured
in an issue of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin devoted to recent acquisitions.
See
Recent Acquisitions
for more information.
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How to Read a Caption
Title or Object Name
Titles appear in boldface or in italics, following each department's preference.
Titles are listed before or after the name of the creator of the work of art, again
following each department's preference.
The formal title of a work is that given by the artist, if known. For example:
Compass, 1920
Man Ray (American, 1890–1976)
If the title is undetermined, curators may give a title indicating the work's subject.
Uncertainty may be indicated by including a question mark in parentheses or by using
words such as "possibly" or "probably." For example:
An Allegory, Probably of the Peace of Utrecht of 1713
Antoine Rivalz (French, 1667–1735)
Titles are often simply the common name or a simple description of the object. For
example:
Easy Chair, 1758
Made by Caleb Gardner (d. 1761)
Vessel with Mythological Scene, 8th century
Maya peoples; Guatemala, Petén Department
The word "detail" indicates that the image shows only a part of the work. For example:
At the Seaside (detail), ca. 1892
William Merritt Chase (1849–1916)
Languages
Titles in foreign languages that use the Latin alphabet may be followed by the accepted
English translation in parentheses. For example:
Le bal masqué (The Masked Ball)
Several departments work with objects that have titles in languages that do not
use the Latin alphabet. According to the Museum's editorial style and each department's
preference, these words are translated into English or transliterated into roman
letters. For example:
Night-Shining White, Tang dynasty (618–907), 8th century
Attributed to Han Gan (Chinese, act. 742–756)
Chuba, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 17th century
China
Date
Titles or object names are usually followed by a date or date range. If the exact
date is unknown, approximate dates may be indicated by "ca." (circa, or about).
A question mark may also be used.
In cases where an exact or approximate date cannot be determined, a date range may
be given. A range may cover a number of years or a historical period: 1850–53
or Tang dynasty (618–907).
All dates are converted into the Western calendar. Era designations are indicated
by
B.C. (before Christ);
B.C.E. (before the common
era);
A.D. (anno Domini, "in the year of the Lord"), or
C.E.
(of the common era), depending on the preference of the department. The abbreviations
B.C.,
B.C.E., and
C.E. follow the date;
A.D. precedes the date.
Artist or Maker
The name and nationality of the maker(s) of the object are given, if known. If there
is uncertainty about the maker, a question mark in parentheses follows the name.
If there are two or more possible creators, their names are separated by "or." If
the maker's name is undetermined, the word "unknown" may be used. Some other descriptive
phrases are: "attributed to," "follower of," "school of," "circle of," and "workshop
of."
The following abbreviations may be used for dates:
- act. (active)
- b. (born)
- ca. (circa)
- d. (died)
- r. (ruled)
For example:
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890)
French school, 19th century, Unknown artist, formerly attributed to John La Farge
(1835–1910)
Attributed to Petrus Christus (Netherlandish, act. by 1444, d. 1475/76)
Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden (Netherlandish, 1399/1400–1464) (possibly
Hans Memling, act. by 1465, d. 1494)
Country or Culture of Origin
The country or culture of origin indicates the geographic area where the object
was made or found and may be followed by a specific city or region. For example:
France (Paris), 19th century
Olmec peoples, Mexico, Puebla State
Medium and Dimensions
The medium describes the material(s) of which the work is made. These materials
are determined by curatorial study, conservation work, or information recorded by
the artist. Dimensions of the work of art are given in inches and centimeters. The
order follows each department's preference.
Measurements for two-dimensional works (such as paintings, drawings, and photographs)
are given as height followed by width. Measurements for three-dimensional works
(such as sculptures) are given as height followed by width and depth. The duration
of video works may be given in minutes.
Works of art with multiple elements list dimensions for each element. For example:
L. at center back of bodice 21 1/4 in. (54 cm); L. at center back of skirt 31 in.
(78.7 cm).
The following abbreviations may be used:
- D. (Depth)
- Diam. (Diameter)
- fol. (folio)
- H. (Height)
- L. (Length)
- r. (recto)
- v. (verso)
- W. (Width)
Name of Institution
Objects in the Metropolitan's permanent collection are indicated by "The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York." Works of art on loan are indicated by the name and location
of the lending institution. For example: Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
Credit Line and Accession Number
The work's credit line indicates how the work came into the permanent collection
or how it came to be on view at the Metropolitan Museum. "Bequest," "gift," "purchase,"
and "loan" are some of the terms used to indicate sources. The assigned credit line
remains with the work of art throughout its life at the Metropolitan. The year is
given at the end of the credit line.
Each accessioned work is assigned a unique accession number by which it is catalogued
and identified. At the Metropolitan Museum, the number is composed of the year the
work was acquired, followed by a further number or numbers, and sometimes letters.
Some object groups are composed of multiple accession numbers.
For example:
The Harvesters, 1565
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish, act. by 1551, d. 1569)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1919 (19.164)
Armor for Field and Tournament, 1527
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, William H. Riggs Gift and Rogers
Fund, 1919 (19.131.1, 2)
Casket with Scenes from Romances, 14th century
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.173a,
b)
Every institution has its own way of assigning accession numbers.
Copyright
Some works of art from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries may have a copyright
line beginning with the copyright symbol, ©.
For example:
Penny Picture Display, Savannah, 1936
Walker Evans (American, 1903–1975)
© Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Self-portrait, 1979
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987)
© 2002 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/ARS, New York
Some photographs of works of art require photograph copyrights. These are indicated
as follows:
Photograph © 1972
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Additional Object Information
Additional information often follows the caption. This may include a description
of the object, a description of the markings on the object, and the provenance—or
ownership history—of the object.
Object Description
Descriptions of works of art are written by the curatorial staff. Some texts may
indicate the importance of the particular work in relation to others in the Museum's
collection.
Signature, Marks, Inscriptions
The signature of the creator and any marks, such as inscriptions, dates, and the
like, are given. These are essential in identifying and documenting works.
Provenance/Ownership History
An artwork's "provenance" is the history of its ownership before it came to the
Metropolitan Museum. The information may be provided by previous owners, by inscriptions,
by labels on the work, or by information from archives and other such sources. It
may include names of owners (Andries de Schutter [by 1645]) or locations (Church
of Saint Lucy).
See
Provenance Research Project
for more information.
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More Information
The Museum's
Lita Annenberg Hazen and Joseph H.
Hazen Center for Electronic Information Resources provides access to an
extensive collection of databases, CD-ROMs, online journals, and indexed online
resources for the history of art, as well as training and support in their use.
Museum staff members also maintain an index of useful art-related links through
the social bookmarking tool
Delicious.
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