What the response contains
Try sunflowers, Monet, and samurai and use the returned fields to identify the right record.
Fields worth checking
- Knowledge & Research
- The Met Collection results
- public source
The Met Collection
Knowledge & Research · The Met Collection results · public source
Live lookup
Type a real query, scan the cards and confirm the key details before opening the full source.
Quick examples
The search returns a count and identifiers
The search route responds with total and objectIDs. total says how many public objects match a query; objectIDs is the list of numbers identifying each record. That first response does not provide a title, artist, date, image, or confirmation that an artwork is on display.
- Use total to size the query, not as a count of an artist’s work outside the collection.
- Keep objectID as the key for opening one record.
- Do not show a numeric identifier as if it were an artwork title.
Detail comes in a second request
To learn about an object, open /objects/{objectID}. A record can include title, artistDisplayName, objectDate, medium, culture, department, primaryImage, and isPublicDomain. Not every field is populated for every object, and not every record has an open-access image.
- Use title and artistDisplayName after loading an object, not after the initial search.
- Check isPublicDomain and an image URL before reusing a reproduction.
- Keep objectID when creating a link or internal reference.
A search is a starting point for research
The API brings together open-access data from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection. Searches by subject, work, or artist help find research paths, but nearby results can represent different objects, periods, cultures, or terms. Read the object fields and the museum page before assigning authorship, date, or historical context to a work.
- Refine by title or tags when a query needs more precision.
- Do not infer authorship merely because a name appears in an ID list.
- Use the object page for curatorial context and complete credits.