The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in 1870 after a group of New York businessmen returned from Paris determined to build something as grand as what they'd seen abroad. The first item they purchased was a Roman sarcophagus, followed by 174 European paintings. Since then, the Met has grown into America's largest art museum, with more than 1.5 million works spanning five millennia.

The building itself tells a story of architectural evolution. Calvert Vaux designed the original Gothic Revival structure in 1880, but Richard Morris Hunt later created the Beaux Arts façade and grand hall that now define the museum. Hunt's additions essentially buried Vaux's Gothic design, though traces survive in the Robert Lehman wing.

The collection includes unexpected Gilded Age transplants: Arabella Huntington's dressing room and a Cornelius Vanderbilt II fireplace, both removed whole from demolished mansions. The museum's official mascot is a small blue faïence hippo from ancient Egypt, affectionately named William.

VoiceMap's audio tours use the Met to trace how Gilded Age millionaires shaped New York's cultural landscape, connecting the museum's collection to the demolished mansions and collecting rivalries that defined the era.