In 2008, Philippe de Montebello—whose long and storied career at The Metropolitan Museum of Art spanned nearly a third of the institution’s entire history—retired after more than thirty-one years as director. Mr. de Montebello, who first joined the staff as a curatorial assistant in 1963, became director in 1977, and assumed the additional role of chief executive officer in 1998.

To celebrate Philippe de Montebello’s years as director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum’s Forum of Curators, Conservators, and Scientists organized an exhibition of approximately three hundred works of art—from a total of more than eighty-four thousand—that were acquired during his tenure.

Learn more about this special project, and about Philippe de Montebello's tenure at the Museum.