The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a major encyclopedic art museum on Manhattan's Upper East Side, along Museum Mile, with a second site, The Cloisters, in upper Manhattan dedicated to medieval art. Founded in 1870, it is among the largest art museums in the world, housing a permanent collection of roughly 1.5 million works spanning ancient civilizations through contemporary art across 17 curatorial departments, including European painting, Egyptian, Asian, American, and Islamic art, as well as extensive holdings of musical instruments, costumes, and arms and armor. It is consistently ranked among the most-visited museums in the United States, drawing millions of visitors annually and serving as a comprehensive resource for the study and public presentation of art history.