The Princeton University Art Museum has been collecting since 1755 and now holds over 117,000 works of art. Its collecting history began in 1755, and the museum was formally established in 1882. Today the museum houses over 117,000 works of art ranging from antiquity to the contemporary period.
Its collections concentrate on the Mediterranean region, Western Europe, Asia, the United States, and Latin America. Here you can imagine the breadth: a large collection of Greek and Roman antiquities — ceramics, marbles, bronzes, and Roman mosaics from Princeton University's excavations in Antioch. Medieval Europe appears in sculpture, metalwork, and stained glass.
Western European paintings span the early Renaissance through the nineteenth century, and there is a growing collection of twentieth-century and contemporary art. The photographic holdings are a particular strength, numbering over 27,000 works. The Princeton University Art Museum dedicates itself to supporting and enhancing the university's goals of teaching, research, and service in fields of art and culture, as well as to serving regional communities and visitors from around the world.
Take a moment to consider the global sweep of the Mediterranean, Western Europe, Asia, the United States, and Latin America that the collections emphasize. Notice the galleries and collections stretching out from this room.