NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Perhaps no word describes the Met as well as "encyclopedic." With nearly 3,000,000 works in its vaults that span 5,000 years, the museum can display only a fraction at a time. Several of the collections are described below. 

The modern art section emphasizes mostly American paintings. The 19th-century European painting collection contains many great Impressionist and Post-Impressionist canvases. The European Paintings collection has Italian masterpieces as well as Dutch and Flemish works. 

The American wing has the nation's finest collection of American painting, sculpture and decorative arts. Its Engelhard Court has fine examples of neoclassical and Beaux-Arts monumental sculpture and stained-glass windows by Tiffany. Nineteen period rooms date from 1680 (the Hart Room) to 1914 (the Frank Lloyd Wright Room).

The medieval art section encompasses the 4th through the 16th centuries. Strengths include early Christian and Byzantine silver and jewelry of the barbarian tribes. 

The collections of the Asian Art section are from China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia. They date from the third millennium B.C. to the present. The re-creation of the Ming scholar's garden, with its rock garden and spring, is enchanting. 

Works of ancient Near Eastern art range from the 6th millennium B.C. to the Arab conquest in A.D. 626 and come from Mesopotamia, Iran, Syria and Anatolia among other areas. 

The Greek and Roman galleries cover several civilizations:  works from the Classical period, pre-Greek artwork of the eastern Mediterranean and the pre-Roman art of Italy. The glass and silver holdings are considered among the finest in the world. 

The Egyptian section includes jewelry from the Middle and New Kingdoms, sculpture depicting Queen Hatshepsut, and the Temple of Dendur, commanding a vast hangar-like space in the north wing. 

Gallery talks and audio tours are offered in many languages. Subscription lectures, films, concerts and symposia are integral to the exhibitions.

Programs for Seniors
Met Escapes invites individuals living with dementia, together with their family members or care partners, to participate in discussions, handling sessions, art making and other interactive and multi-sensory activities in the galleries and in a Met classroom. This program is free, but reservations are required and places are limited. Call (212) 650–2010 or e-mail access@metmuseum.org to make a reservation or for more information.

Community Outreach programs are provided to senior centers by the museum's education department.

Foreign-language Programs
The museum's website can be viewed in many languages and different audio guide programs are available in a variety of languages. Tours are available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Guided tours and international guided tours meet in the Great Hall. Workshops for Spanish-speaking families with children between the ages of 4 and 10 take place on a regular basis. 

• Directions: Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th Street

• ADA Compliant Restrooms
• Archive
• Audio Guides
• Coat Check
• Disability Access: Fully accessible (wheelchairs, special programs and parking available); call (212) 650-2010 or e-mail access@metmuseum.org to make a reservation or for more information. Group arrangements may be made for groups of individuals with access needs.
• Disability Assistance:

  Hearing: American Sign Language-interpreted programs, captioned lectures and films. Audio guides available in print for the hearing impaired. Assistive listening devices available for tours and programs. Infrared hearing devices with headsets and neckloops available in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium and the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education.
  Vision: Large-print materials, verbal imaging tours, touch tours and monthly drawing classes. Audio guides and Braille materials are free for visually impaired visitors.

  Voice (212) 650-2010; TTY (212) 570-3828

• Gift Shops: Toys, games, art kits, cards, art and jewelry reproductions, books, sculptures and more.
• On-Site Food: Cafeteria and formal restaurant; no lunch facilities are available for school groups.
• On-Site Parking: On-site lot (entrance at East 80th Street and Fifth Avenue)
• Tours

Get involved with Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Donations through Metropolitan Museum of Art's Web site
• Memberships