The museum opened on February 20, 1872. Robert Lee Jenkins, a railroad executive whose own collection seeded the museum, served as its first President. Its founding Superintendent was the publisher George Palmer Putnam. Its director from 1955 to his death on May 11, 1966, was James J. Rorimer. He was succeeded by Thomas Hoving, who served from March 17, 1967 to June 30, 1977. The current director is Philippe de Montebello.

Its massive collection ranges from treasures of Classical Antiquity like its Greek galleries and Cypriot galleries to nearly all the European masters, as well as an extensive collection of American art. It also possesses extensive holdings in Egyptian — including the Temple of Dendur — African, Asian, Oceanic, Middle Eastern, Byzantine and Islamic art. The museum also contains 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.

On the passing of banker Robert Lehman in 1969, his Foundation donated close to 3,000 works of art to the museum. Housed in the "Robert Lehman Wing," the museum refers to the collection [1] as one of the most extraordinary private art collections ever assembled in the United States. Princeton University Press has documented the massive collection in a multi-volume book series published as "The Robert Lehman Collection Catalogues."

One of The Met's latest purchases and the most expensive piece of art is Duccio's Madonna and Child, costing the museum more than 45 million dollars. The painting is only 8 x 11 inches.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art are near the museum's main building. The museum is widely considered to be among the best in the world.