Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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• Timelines

  by Time Period 8,000–2,000 b.c. 2,000–1,000 b.c. 1,000 b.c.–1 a.d. 1–500 a.d. 500–1,000 a.d. 1,000–1400 a.d. 1400–1600 a.d. 1600–1800 a.d. 1800–1900 a.d. 1900 a.d.–present

  by Geographical Region Africa   Central America   Central and North Asia   East Asia   Europe   North America   Oceania   South America   South and Southeast Asia  West Asia

• Thematic Essays
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    Select a Thematic Category African Art American Art Ancient Near Eastern Art Art of the Americas Asian Art Byzantine Art Egyptian Art European Art Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art Medieval Art Modern and Contemporary Art Oceanic/Pacific Art Prehistory Select a Department American Decorative Arts American Paintings and Sculpture Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Asian Art The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Education Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art The Libraries Medieval Art and The Cloisters Musical Instruments Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art Objects Conservation Paintings Conservation Paper Conservation Photographs Robert Lehman Collection Scientific Research Textile Conservation

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  • Select a Geographical Region Africa Central America Central and North Asia East Asia Europe North America Oceania South America South and Southeast Asia West Asia All Geographical Regions Select a Time Period 20,000–8000 B.C. 8000–2000 B.C. 2000–1000 B.C. 1000 B.C.–1 A.D. 1–500 A.D. 500–1000 A.D. 1000–1400 A.D. 1400–1600 A.D. 1600–1800 A.D. 1800–1900 A.D. 1900 A.D.–Present All Time Periods
    
• Works of Art
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Works of Art

By Time Period

Select a Time Period 8000–2000 B.C. 2000–1000 B.C. 1000 B.C–1 A.D. 1–500 A.D. 500–1000 A.D. 1000–1400 A.D. 1400–1600 A.D. 1600–1800 A.D. 1800–1900 A.D. 1900 A.D.–Present

By Geographical Region

Select a Geographical Region Africa Central America Central and North Asia East Asia Europe North America Oceania South America South and Southeast Asia West Asia

By Thematic Category

Select a Thematic Category African Art African Art, Central Africa African Art, Eastern Africa African Art, Southern Africa African Art, Western Africa American Art American Art, Colonial Art American Art, 19th Century American Art, 20th Century Ancient Near Eastern Art Art of the Americas Asian Art Asian Art, China Asian Art, Japan Asian Art, Korea Asian Art, South and Southeast Asia Byzantine Art Egyptian Art European Art European Art, Renaissance European Art, Seventeenth & Eighteenth Centuries European Art, Nineteenth-Century European Art, Twentieth-Century Greek and Roman Art in the Ancient World Islamic Art Islamic Art, Early Period Islamic Art, Medieval Period Islamic Art, Later Period Medieval Art Modern and Contemporary Art Oceanic/Pacific Art

Title Description

Artist

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Accession Number

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By Collection

Select a Collection American Decorative Arts American Paintings and Sculpture Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Asian Art The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art The Libraries Medieval Art and The Cloisters Musical Instruments Modern and Contemporary Art Photographs Robert Lehman Collection

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Recent Additions

How to Read a Caption

Browse by Subject

Browse by Artist

Works of Art is composed of the nearly 6,000 works featured on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History and does not include all of the works in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. This search feature does not include information about the subject matter of the works of art. For queries concerning content and broader themes in art history, consult the Subject, Artist, or Thematic Essay indexes. To research available object records in the Museum's permanent collection, consult The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collections.

How to Read a Caption

A caption gives basic information about a work of art.

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Title

Titles appear in boldface.

Date

Titles are usually followed by a date or date range.

Artist

The name and nationality of the artist/maker(s) of the work of art are given, if known.

Country or Culture of Origin

The country or culture of origin indicates the geographic area where the work of art was made or found and may be followed by a specific city or region.

Medium and Dimensions

The medium describes the material(s) that the work of art is made of. Dimensions of the work of art are given in inches and centimeters.

Credit Line

The credit line indicates how a 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 Museum. The year of accession is given at the end of the credit line.

Accession Number

The Metropolitan Museum of Art assigns a unique accession number to each object it acquires. The first two or four digits of an accession number refer to the year that the object became part of the Metropolitan's collection. The Museum was founded in 1870 and for the first 100 years of its existence two digits were used. Thus, the first item accessioned into the Museum has the number 70.1 because it was accessioned in 1870. More »

The accession number for Edgar Degas's A Woman Seated Beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?) is 29.100.128. The number 29 refers to the year 1929. The number 100 refers to the collection within which the painting entered the Museum. In this case, it is the Havemeyer Collection, comprised of almost 2,000 items, which came to the Museum in 1929. This particular object is number 128 in that collection.

The accession number for the Roman statue Old Market Woman is 09.39. The 09 refers to 1909, the year in which the statue entered the Museum's collection. Because it does not have a collection number, we know that this item came to the Museum as an individual object.

In 1970, a century after the Museum's founding, the style of accession numbers changed. It became necessary to differentiate the accessions of the Museum's second century from those of the first. For example, the accession number for Vincent van Gogh's Shoes is 1992.374. This painting was acquired by the Museum in 1992.

Copyright

Some works of art from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries may have a copyright line beginning with the copyright symbol [©].

Description

Descriptions of works of art are written by the curatorial staff.

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