The Met as Seen by a Longtime Guard and Memoir Author

(Best suited for adults and teenagers that have a strong interest in the museum.)

Duration

75 minutes 1/2 mile (All inside the museum)

Overview

Join the author of All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me (“Exquisite… A beautiful tale about beauty” - The Washington Post) as he sheds new light on familiar masterpieces and reveals wonders of the Met hidden in plain sight.

Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They’re the guards who roam unobtrusively in dark blue suits, keeping a watchful eye on the two million square foot treasure house.

Patrick is thrilled to be back in the galleries after the publication of All the Beauty in the World, published in February 2023 by Simon & Schuster and in translated editions around the world. Patrick has been featured in The New Yorker, CBS News, ABC News, NPR, the Guardian, the Times of London, and many other outlets. He has spent countless hours discussing the Met’s collections with all types of people and is as engaging a storyteller as he is a writer.

The Tour:

The tour will last between 90 minutes and two hours and wind through at least six of the Met’s curatorial departments, including Greek and Roman Art, Egyptian Art, Asian Art, Medieval Art, and European Paintings. Before you enter the museum, you will gaze at its four-city-block-long facade and learn about the Met’s 150-year history, its architectural peculiarities, and fascinating details of its operations that Patrick knows firsthand. As you walk through the galleries, you will be treated to several narrative threads about the Met, expertly interwoven. You will hear:

• Information about the work of the Met’s staff of over two thousand

• Revealing and funny stories from Patrick’s long hours of people-watching

• The startling and diverse backstories of masterpieces and the people who produced them

• Insights into the special beauty and meaning of art, gleaned from a decade of close observation

Please Note

This tour takes place inside, the museum, so you don't need to worry about weather