Research

The Museum has always been dedicated to the highest level of scholarship surrounding its collections and to the advancement of general knowledge about art. Today this includes providing state-of-the art libraries and study centers, conducting conservation, scientific analysis, and art historical research, participating in archaeological fieldwork, and inviting scholars to the Museum to study the collections.

Libraries and Study Centers

The Museum's libraries contain books, periodicals, photographs, manuscripts, and other scholarly resources in printed and electronic formats. The Museum also maintains several specialized study centers with images, documentation, and actual objects on display or on reserve for examination by researchers.

Internships and Fellowships

Internships and fellowships provide professional training and research opportunities for students and scholars at various academic levels to engage fully with the intellectual life of the Museum.

Archaeological Fieldwork

The Met has been involved in the study of antiquity since its founding in 1870. Today, members of the Museum's staff participate in active excavations at Dahshur, Lisht, and Malqata in Egypt; Tell Mozan and Umm el Marra in Syria; and at Palaikastro in eastern Crete and Amorium in Turkey.

Conservation and Scientific Research

The Metropolitan Museum houses a world-renowned complex of scientific research and conservation facilities, each of which serves as a training ground for conservators from around the world.

Curatorial Research

From its beginning in 1870, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has published exhibition catalogues and guides to its collections, based on ongoing research performed by curators.

Image Resources

The Image Library consists of digital images, color transparencies, 35mm slides, and black-and-white photographs documenting the Museum's vast and rich collection. Many of these images are available to license for study, editorial, and commercial usage.

Provenance Research Project

Research on the ownership history, or provenance, of works of art sheds light on the historical, social, and economic context in which a work of art was created and collected, as well as on the history of taste.