Russia (bbabo.net), - The Costume Institute, one of the largest collections of Islamic art and the status of one of the most visited museums on the planet: 150 years ago, the Metropolitan Museum in New York opened its doors to visitors./i

On February 20, 1872, the Metropolitan Museum officially became available to the public, but it was founded a little earlier - on April 13, 1870, when a museum was created by a group of businessmen and those interested in spreading love for beauty on their own donations.

At first, the museum's exposition was formed only from donations from private collections. The first exhibition - paintings by European artists - consisted of 174 exhibits. It was not until 1901 that things took off: the museum received a donation of almost five million dollars, which made it possible to acquire works of art purposefully.

Today, the Metropolitan Museum of Art consists of several large departments, including the department of American painting and sculpture, ancient art of the Far and Near East, weapons, art of Ancient Egypt, ancient and Islamic art, as well as departments of European painting, 20th century art, engravings and lithographs, musical instruments. In addition, the book museum, the children's museum and the costume institute are distinguished separately.

Since 2014, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute bears the name of Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, and annually attracts the attention of the press during the Met Gala, a special event during which funds are raised for the development of the Costume Institute itself. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that each time a theme is determined, according to which all guests of the event, that is, all the most famous and media personalities, must choose their outfits.

It is impossible not to mention the main research library named after Thomas Watson, also part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and storing about a million volumes on art and design. It is also noteworthy that since 2012, many magazines, catalogs and other information sources from the museum's library have been available for download on the special Internet portal MetPublications.

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The Metropolitan Museum during the pandemic

Now the Metropolitan Museum, with a total area of ​​​​all departments of about 18 hectares, is located on one of the most famous streets in New York - on Fifth Avenue, at number 1000. Before At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the museum was the fourth most visited in the world with five million visitors a year.

It is still possible to immerse yourself in the world of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, despite all the restrictions, and you can do it completely free of charge by joining a virtual tour using the online platform The Met Unframed. With the help of this project, you can examine in detail about fifty exhibits - from antiquity to the present.

In addition, a constantly updated list of events can be tracked on the official website of the museum. Many of them are available online on Zoom. For example, children between the ages of 12 and 14 can take part in a free two-hour discussion about how the Walt Disney Animation Studio used 18th-century European decorative art to create their cartoons, free of charge, by prior registration. During the meeting in an online format, it is proposed to create your own work of art, inspired by the exhibits of the museum. To do this, it is proposed to prepare colored paper, pencils and glue in advance.

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