Metropolitan Museum of Art

Overview

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s open-access API exposes 470,000+ artworks in its collection — objects with titles, artists, dates, materials, images, and department metadata. Keyless and free (verified live), it’s a wonderful source for art apps, educational tools, and random-art widgets.

Quick Start

An object (verified live — Object 1):

curl "https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/public/collection/v1/objects/1"

{
  "objectID": 1,
  "title": "Belt",
  "artistDisplayName": "Unknown",
  "objectDate": "late 17th century",
  "medium": "Silk and metal thread",
  "department": "The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing",
  "primaryImage": "https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ao/original/DT5125.jpg"
}

Search by keyword:

curl "https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/public/collection/v1/search?q=monet&hasImages=true"

Objects in a department:

curl "https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/public/collection/v1/objects?departmentIds=11"

Departments list:

curl "https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/public/collection/v1/departments"

Authentication

None — keyless.

Rate Limits & Notes

• Free, no hard documented limit — be polite (it’s a public service).
• /search?q= returns matching object IDs (use hasImages=true for objects with images); then fetch each /objects/{id}.
• Images are served from images.metmuseum.org — hotlink-friendly.
• Public-domain artworks have open image access (CC0/public domain where applicable).

FAQ

Is the Met API free? Yes — free and keyless.

How do I get image URLs? The primaryImage field (when present) points to the artwork image.

How many objects? 470,000+ objects in the open-access collection.