Complete Guide to Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

New York City is a feeling which you can never have enough of. You can spend your life here and may experience or explore something new each day. If you are first time visitor to the city, you must be having a long list of places to visit and tastes to savor. Does it already have the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Double-check? And if it is not already there, better add it as there are no ways you would want to skip this majestic place.

To be honest, it is not a place you would be done within a day or two as it is the largest art museum in the United States. You should spare a week at least to get the maximum glimpse of the museum. For your kind information, it has archives of over two million pieces which are divided among seventeen departments.

There is no way you can check everything but whatever you could manage in your time frame would be more than enough.

You may visit chosen galleries among many in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and may get lost in the magnificence of culture and history.

Some of the Most Popular Attractions to Explore in the Museum are as Under:

Art Masterpieces:

Several Most Iconic Masterpieces of our Human History are Placed Here, Such As:

• “The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer” painting by Edgar Degas is exhibited in gallery #815
• “Young Woman with a Water Pitcher” by Johannes Vermeer is in gallery #632
• “Wheat Fields with Cypresses” by Vincent Van Gogh is placed at gallery #822
• “Madonna and Child” by Duccio di Buoninsegna in gallery #625

These are a few to name among many which lend elegance and class to the museum.

European Medieval History:

There is a separate hall in the Metropolitan Museum of Art where 50,000 art pieces are placed from European medieval history. One gets lost in the historical details and feels oneself like a character from history. The presentation of sculptures is classic that one cannot help but applaud the management. Most of the pieces are recovered from Europe and the Mediterranean.

The Three Graces Statues:

Most of the statues kept in the museum used to be garden adornments. You may found many dotted all over the museum in beautiful surroundings where you may sit and can nearly strike a conversation, a soul to soul-deep conversation with them. These three statues have their separate fan base as they bring beauty and perfection before you.

The Etruscan Chariot:

Placed in gallery #170, this well-preserved chariot dates back to the pinnacle of Roman and Greek civilization. It was found by a farmer during the tilling of his lands in 1902.

Ancient Art:

Towards the second half of the 19th century, the museum started collecting ancient art. Today, it has nearly 7,000 masterpieces of art ranging from ancient to medieval history. It almost represents the complete ancient history including craft from the Sumerian, Hittite, Sasanian, Assyrian, and Babylonian periods. It boasts a wide collection of unique Bronze Age objects from the Elamite cultures.

Art of Africa and Oceania:

It is only a recent past when the museum started acquiring artifacts from Africa and Oceania. The idea was pioneered by philanthropist Nelson A. Rockefeller who donated his collection of almost 3,000 pieces to the museum in 1969.  It took a decade to finally open “The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing” containing masterpieces from Africa and Oceania.

With time, the collection rose higher and today number reflects that it has more than 11,000 art pieces from Africa and the pacific islands. Rockefeller Wing expands over the area of 40,000-square-foot towards the south end of the museum. Historically, it ranges from 3,000 B.C.E. to the present. Famous pieces are 40,000-year-old indigenous Australian rock paintings and objects from the Nigerian Court of Benin.

Note: It is planned to extend the space of The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing’s exhibition area from 2020 to 2023.

Art from Asia:

There is a separate department for Asian Art. It has a collection of 35,000 pieces. The history represents 4,000 years of Asian Art. Along with art collections from the subcontinent, Nepalese, Tibetan, Burma, Thailand, it has archives of Chinese paintings. The ancient religions of this Asia Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism are shown in their cultural perspectives.

American Collection:

American history is well represented in the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It has a historical range from the 18th through the early 20th century. It spans over an area of 30,000 square feet which exhibits American culture and history.

Some General Tips:

• Come to visit the museum with a proper plan. The museum is big enough to demand more time of yours. If you come to see it in a single day, then stick to the plan and start from either corner to reach the other end with attached galleries.
• You may take the help of the app to navigate through the museum and get to know what to see and where to look for it.
• Children under 12 do not have an admission fee but above that age are supposed to purchase a ticket. You may purchase it online or at the door of the museum.
• The weekend remains very crowded in the museum so if you can spare a day on weekdays, come and visit.
• You should refrain from bringing big bags of personal belongings to the museum. Try to keep it as simple as possible. Bring in the camera with you as you are going to witness the history before you. Along with the camera, do not forget to keep a bottle of water with you as you will be doing a lot of traveling on foot and would require water to keep going.

Final Words:

Come to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and dive into the pool of knowledge and cultural artifacts. It is not merely American history there but that of our whole humanity which expands over 6,000 years of human evolution.

Visit it to have one of the most incredible and wonderful days of your life.