The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open its newly refurbished painting galleries after a renovation that has lasted two-plus years, reports Carol Vogel of the New York Times. These forty-five galleries have not been restored since 1951 and will include about six hundred works of art dating from 1250 to 1800. The chairman of the European paintings department, Keith Christiansen, explained that the works will be displayed chronologically by countries, emphasizing “moments when different cultures and artists meet.”