Collection Areas
These collection areas study, exhibit, and care for the objects in The Met collection.
African Art in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
The Met's collection of works by artists from across sub-Saharan Africa comprises nearly 3,000 works spanning two millennia, several hundred distinct cultures, and 39 contemporary nation states.
The American Wing
Ever since its establishment in 1870, the Museum has acquired important examples of American art. Today, the American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works by African American, Euro American, Native American, and Latin American artists, ranging from the colonial to early-modern period.
Ancient West Asian Art
The Met's collection of ancient West Asian art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium BCE through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century CE.
Arms and Armor
The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker.
Ancient American Art in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
The Met's collection of ancient American art, situated in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, comprises more than 6,000 works of art representing almost 5,000 years of history from North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean.
Asian Art
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
The Costume Institute
The Costume Institute's collection of more than 33,000 costumes and accessories represents five continents and seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.
Drawings and Prints
The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.
Egyptian Art
The Met's collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from the Paleolithic to the Roman period (ca. 300,000 B.C.–A.D. 4th century).
European Paintings
The Met's celebrated European Paintings collection encompasses more than 2,500 works of art from the thirteenth through the early twentieth century.
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
The 50,000 objects in the Museum's comprehensive collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century.
Greek and Roman Art
The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
Islamic Art
The Met's collection of Islamic art is one of the most comprehensive in the world and ranges in date from the seventh to the twenty-first century. Its more than 15,000 objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions from Spain to Indonesia.
The Robert Lehman Collection
The Robert Lehman Collection is one of the most distinguished privately assembled art collections in the United States. Robert Lehman's bequest to The Met is a remarkable example of twentieth-century American collecting.
Medieval Art and The Cloisters
The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance.
Modern and Contemporary Art
The Met’s engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
Musical Instruments
The Museum's collection of musical instruments includes approximately 5,000 examples from six continents and the Pacific Islands, dating from about 300 B.C. to the present.
Oceanic Art in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
The expansive region of Oceania covers over a third of the Earth's surface and is home to some 1,800 different cultures and a kaleidoscopic range of artistic traditions. The Met's collection of Oceanic art comprises over 2,800 works that present the rich history of creative expression and innovation that is emblematic of the Pacific islands.
