When The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870, it owned not a single work of art. Over the years, through the combined efforts and brilliance of generations of curators and researchers, collectors and patrons, The Met collection has grown artistically, geographically, and culturally to represent more than 5,000 years of art from across the globe—from the first cities of the ancient world to works being created today.
Browse collection highlights selected by curators from the Museum's 17 curatorial departments.
Enjoy more than 375,000 hi-res images of public-domain works from the collection, all of which can be downloaded, shared, and remixed without restriction.
View the Department of Arms and Armor's extensive holdings, one of the most comprehensive and encyclopedic collections of its kind.
From Washington Crossing the Delaware to the finest of Persian watercolors, view a collection of The Met's most miraculous paintings.
This extraordinary archive provides rare insight into the artistic achievement of photographer Walker Evans, as well as the cultural, intellectual, and personal context of his career.
Pore through The Met's extensive collection of carriage designs by Brewster & Company, the most highly regarded of all American carriage manufacturers.
Voices from across the Museum offer new perspectives on works in The Met collection representing more than 5,000 years of human creativity.
MetCollects celebrates works of art new to the Museum's collection through the fresh eyes of photographers and the enthusiastic voices of leading scholars and artists.
The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History pairs essays and works of art with chronologies to tell the story of art and global culture through the Museum's collection.