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Curatorial Departments

Seventeen curatorial departments study, exhibit, and care for the objects in The Met collection.

The American Wing

Ever since its establishment in 1870 the Museum has acquired important examples of American Art. A separate "American Wing" building to display the domestic arts of the 17th–early 19th centuries opened in 1924.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

The Met's collection of ancient Near Eastern art includes more than 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the time of the Arab conquests of the seventh century A.D.

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.

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than 11,000 works of art of varied materials and types.

Asian Art

The collection of Asian art at The Met—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the 21st century—is one of the largest and is the most comprehensive in the West.

The Costume Institute

The Costume Institute's collection of more than 35,000 costumes and accessories represents five continents and seven centuries of fashionable dress, regional costumes, and accessories for men, women, and children.

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 26,000 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 world-famed collection of European paintings encompasses works of art from the 13th through the 19th centuries—from Giotto to Gauguin. Most, though not all, are displayed in the galleries of the Department of European Paintings.

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 15th through the early 20th century.

Greek and Roman Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 17,000 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 ranges in date from the seventh to the 19th century. Its nearly 12,000 objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions of Islam.

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 20th-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 has collected and exhibited work by living artists since its founding in 1870. Today, the department's holdings comprise more than 12,000 works of art across a broad range of media from 1900 to the present.

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.

Photographs

Established as an independent curatorial department in 1992, The Met's Department of Photographs houses a collection of more than 25,000 works spanning the history of photography from its invention in the 1830s to the present.