The Museum's encyclopedic collection, comprising some of the rarest and most important artistic treasures in the world, is made up of eight curatorial areas:

▲Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Gallery (John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925)

The Museum's collection of art of the United States, from colonial through modern times, is one of the finest in the world and includes iconic works such as Paul Revere, Jr.'s Sons of Liberty Bowl (1768), John Singer Sargent's The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit (1882), and Joseph Stella's Old Brooklyn Bridge (about 1941). Since the Museum's founding, it has been committed to collecting art of North, Central, and South America from all time periods. Its diverse holdings rank among the most significant in the nation and feature masterpieces ranging from pre-Columbian gold, Maya ceramics, and Native American (prehistoric to contemporary) art, to an important collection of paintings by John Singleton Copley; the M. and M. Karolik Collection of 18th-century arts, landscape and genre paintings, folk art, and works on paper; the John Axelrod Collection of works by African American artists; and the extensive William H. Lane Collection, which includes works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur G. Dove, Charles Sheeler, and Stuart Davis. The Art of the Americas collection is housed in the new wing for the Art of the Americas.

▲Michael C. Ruettgers Gallery of Ancient Coins

This collection is recognized as one of the finest and most comprehensive in the world. It contains more than 83,000 works of art ranging in date from about 6000 BC to AD 600 and encompasses a wide geographical area: Egypt, Nubia, the Near East, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and Anatolia. The ancient Egyptian, Nubian, Greek, and Roman collections are particularly strong and include important works, such as King Menkaura (Mycerinus) and queen (2490-2472 BC) and Head of Aphrodite (about 330-300 BC). The Egyptian and Nubian collections were largely acquired through excavations conducted by the MFA and Harvard University in the early 20th century, which resulted in the Museum’s acquisition of important objects from the Old Kingdom and the largest Middle Kingdom burial assemblage ever discovered. The Art of the Ancient World collection is housed in the MFA’s George D. and Margo Behrakis Wing. In September 2012, the MFA debuted the Michael C. Ruettgers Gallery of Ancient Coins.

▲Buddhist Temple Room

Among the finest in the Western world, the MFA’s collection of Asian art covers the creative achievement of more than half of the world’s population over the course of six millennia. In 1890 the MFA paved the way for Japanese-American exchange by becoming the first US art museum to create a Japanese collection and appoint a special curator of Japanese art. The collection now encompasses Japanese, Chinese, and Indian painting and sculpture; Japanese prints and metalwork; Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese ceramics; the arts of the Islamic world; and a rapidly growing selection of Oceanic and African art. It features everything from woodblock prints and paintings by Japanese ukiyo-e masters to Chinese Buddhist stone sculpture. In recent years, the MFA's collection of art from Africa has also been expanded to include an important collection of bronzes and ivories from the Kingdom of Benin, as well as masks, figural sculpture, and objects of daily use and personal adornment. In 2011, the MFA opened its new Asian Paintings Gallery and South Asian and Southeast Asian Sculpture Gallery, and in 2012, its new Art of Korea Gallery. In early 2013, it also debuted its reinstalled Art of Japan Gallery.

▲William I. Koch Gallery (European Painting and Hanoverian Silver)

Ranging in date from the 7th century to the late 20th century, this collection of works includes masterpieces by some of the greatest Dutch, English, French, Italian, and Spanish painters, with great depth in 19th-century French works by Barbizon, Impressionist, and post-Impressionist artists. In particular, the MFA holds one of the largest groups of paintings by Claude Monet outside of Paris, and the world’s most extensive collection of paintings and pastels by Jean-Francois Millet. The Art of Europe collection features paintings on canvas, panel, ivory, and copper, as well as frescos, and its holdings of decorative arts and sculpture are among the largest and most important in the United States. Works of decorative art in the collection include furniture, metalwork, ceramics, glass, and architectural elements. The Museum’s unsurpassed assemblages of English silver and porcelain are complemented by historically significant collections of French decorative arts of the 18th century. Its sculpture holdings feature masterworks from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, in addition to fine examples from the 17th to early 20th centuries. In September 2012, the MFA debuted newly renovated William I. Koch Gallery for European paintings.