Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Metropolitan Museum of Art
One of the world's great art museums, the Metropolitan is a veritable
collection of museums, spanning 5,000 years of culture from every part of
the globe. Each of its specialized galleries holds an abundance of treasures. It
was founded in 1870 by a group who wanted to create a great art institution in
America, and began with three private European collections and 174 paintings.
The present holdings number over two million. The original 1880 Gothic Revival
building by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould has been expanded many times.
Recent additions include courts with huge windows overlooking Central Park.
1
Top 10 Exhibits
1 European Painting
2 Egyptian Art
3 Michael C. Rockefeller
Wing
4 American Wing
5 Robert Lehman
Collection
6 Costume Institute
7 Asian Art
8 Lila Wallace Wing
9 European Sculpture and
Decorative Arts
0 Roof Garden
European Painting
The museum's 2,500 Old
Master and 19th-century Euro-
pean paintings form one of the
greatest collections in the world
and include many instantly recog-
nizable masterpieces.
Special strengths include
the Rembrandts and
Vermeers, and the
many Impres-
sionist and
Post-Impres-
sionist
canvases.
Entrance, Metropolitan
Museum of Art
8
There is a cafeteria,
bar, and two cafés
inside. The Roof
Garden Café is
accessed from the
first floor.
3
If time is short, the
European Paintings
on the second floor,
Egyptian Art on the
first, and the
American Wing will
give you a sense of
the greatness of this
enormous institution.
Egyptian Art
The largest
collection of
Egyptian art out-
side Cairo
includes masks,
mummies, statues,
jewelry, the Tomb of
Perneb, and the spectacular
Temple of Dendur, c.15B.C.,
re-assembled as it appeared
on the banks of the Nile.
5
Weekend evenings are
less crowded and offer
the advantage of bar
service and live music.
• 1000 5th Avenue at
82nd St
• Map F3
• 212 535 7710
• www.metmuseum.org
• Open 9:30am-
5:30pm Tue-Thu & Sun,
9:30am-9pm Fri & Sat
(galleries cleared 15
mins before closing
time)
• Adults $15, seniors
$10, students $7,
children under 12 and
members free
Michael C.
Rockefeller
Wing
Masks, wooden
sculpture, gold and
silver ornaments,
Pre-Columbian gold,
ceramics and stone from
Mexico and Peru, and
works of art from the
Court of Benin in Nigeria
are highlights among
1,600 objects of primitive
art covering 3,000 years,
and three continents.
6
Key to Floor Plan
Ground Floor
First Floor
Second Floor
28
For more New York museums
See pp40-41
