The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the most visited Art Museum in the USA, and the National Gallery is the second most popular in the UK. Between them these two make up the third and fourth most visited art museums in the world.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art can be found in New York. It has in its collection over 2 million works of art which are split into 17 departments such as drawings and prints, medieval art, photographs and musical instruments.
The museum was founded in 1870 by American businessmen and financiers, along with artists who wished to bring art to the people. They certainly succeeded in their goal as the museum now houses art dating from ancient Egypt, alongside works by the Renaissance masters and a large collection of modern art.
The National Gallery, in Trafalgar Square, London, is home to more than 2,300 works which belong to the British people and are free to view. It was founded in 1824 when the British Government bought 38 paintings from the estate of insurance broker and art collector John Julius Angerstein.
The National Gallery's collection is small compared to other art museums, mainly because the majority of its collection (two thirds) has come from donations rather than being purchased. Despite this it contains works from all periods in western art from the 13th century to the dawn of the 20th and had over 6 million visitors through its doors in 2013.
Caravaggio included himself in this portrait. He is the second boy from the right