Metropolitan Museum of Art

D

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

This department contains works of art from Africa, the Pacific islands, and pre-Columbian America. The collection expanded considerably in 1978 when the museum acquired a vast assortment of works donated by Nelson A. Rockefeller, former United States vice president. Now housed in a wing named for Rockefeller’s son, Michael C. Rockefeller, the department’s holdings are rich in pre-Columbian gold artifacts, ceramics from Peru, Dogon and Benin sculpture, and various objects from New Guinea.

E

Asian Art

The Asian Art collection contains some of the world’s finest examples of art from China, Japan, Korea, and South and Southeast Asia. The works range from around 3000 bc to the present. The collections of Chinese painting, calligraphy, and monumental Buddhist bronzes, as well as Japanese screens, lacquerwork, and prints are especially notable. See also Japanese Art and Architecture; Chinese Art and Architecture; Printing Techniques: Screen Printing.

F

The Costume Institute

Founded in 1937, The Costume Institute is a research facility that collects, preserves, and exhibits clothing from the late 16th century to the present. The department maintains thousands of examples of costumes and accessories in storage. It also operates an extensive library. The Costume Institute holds special exhibitions three times a year to show aspects of costume history and contemporary fashion.

G

Drawings and Prints

The drawings collection began in 1880 with a gift from American industrialist and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt that consisted of 670 drawings by distinguished European artists. The collection is now one of the finest of its kind in the world, especially in its examples of Italian and French drawings from the 15th century through the 19th century. The print collection is especially comprehensive, rich in 15th-century German, 18th-century Italian, and 19th-century French images. The collection also contains more than 12,000 illustrated books, many architectural designs, and a famous collection of baseball cards.

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H

Egyptian Art

Early in the 20th century the Met’s archaeological excavation program provided the museum with many fine examples of art from Egypt’s prehistoric period (before 3000 bc) to the 8th century ad. The collection is especially well endowed with art owned by Egyptian rulers during the Middle Kingdom (2040 to 1640 bc) and early New Kingdom (1550 to 1070 bc). It also has many examples of funerary art (art used in burials) from the Late Period of Egyptian history, between the 700s and 300s bc (see Egypt: History). The collection of Egyptian art is now one of the most comprehensive outside Egypt, with 36,000 objects on view, including the mastaba (mud-brick) tomb of Perneb, an Egyptian dignitary who died in 2650 bc; royal portrait sculpture from Egypt’s 12th Dynasty (1900s to 1700s bc); the Sphinx of Amenhotep III, from the 18th Dynasty (1300s bc); and the Temple of Dendur, from the early Roman period (about 15 bc).

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