Museum of Fine Arts Boston

The museum opened in 1876 and moved to its present Huntington Avenue building in 1909. Its Egyptian holdings came largely from a joint excavation partnership with Harvard that ran at Giza for decades, which is why the Old Kingdom material here is exceptional - including the reserve heads and the statuary of Menkaure. The Japanese collection is one of the largest outside Japan, built partly by Ernest Fenollosa and William Bigelow in the nineteenth century, and the museum has done substantial work since on the provenance questions that raises. American painting is strong, with Copley, Sargent and a well-known set of Revere silver. The Art of the Americas wing opened in 2010.

What you actually see

• Old Kingdom Egyptian material - from the Harvard-MFA Giza excavations.
• A very large Japanese collection - among the biggest outside Japan.
• American painting and Revere silver - in the Art of the Americas wing.
• A 1909 Huntington Avenue building - with modern additions.

When to go

Year round; late opening on some evenings. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is far too large to see in one visit - the ticket covers a return within ten days for that reason. Special exhibitions cost extra. Some galleries rotate closed. Parking is expensive; the green line is better.

Nearby

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is next door; the Fenway is beside it.