Detail of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Facade, 2006

A view of the fluted columns of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art as one ascends the great staircase leading to it. This photo was taken in June, 2006

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often referred to simply as The Met, is one of the world's largest and most important art museums. It is located on the eastern edge of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, United States. It also maintains a building complex known as "The Cloisters" in Fort Tryon Park at the north end of Manhattan Island overlooking the Hudson River, which features medieval art.

The Met's permanent collection contains more than two million works of art from around the world. The collection's holdings range from treasures of classical antiquity, like those represented in its Greek and Cypriot galleries, to paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, to an extensive collection of American art. The collection also contains extensive holdings of Egyptian, African, Asian, Oceanic, Middle Eastern, Byzantine and Islamic art. An encyclopedic collection of Musical Instruments from all over the world is also on view, as are a number of recreations of notable interiors, including one by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Department of Arms and Armor displays a collection of antique weapons and armor from around the world, primarily Europe, but also Japan, the United States, and the Middle East, with extensive holdings from other cultures and periods in the study collection.

Text (after the first paragraph) from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art