Excerpt from Catalogue of the Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a private corporation, managed and controlled by a Board of Trustees, chosen from its members.At a public meeting, held on the 23rd day of November, 1869, a Provisional Committee of Fifty cultured and public-spirited citizens were appointed to organize the Association.On the 31st day of January, 1870, at a meeting of this Committee, the Officers and Trustees were elected, consisting of a President (John Taylor Johnston), two Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, Secretary and twenty-one Trustees.On the 13th day of April, 1870, a Charter was granted by the Legislature of the State of New York, and at a meeting of the Trustees, held on April 27th, 1870, a Constitution was adopted.Soon after, negotiations were entered into which consummated in the purchase of a collection of pictures, consisting chiefly of specimens of the Dutch and Flemish Schools, but containing also important works of Italian, French, Spanish and English masters.It became necessary to make immediate preparation for the custody and exhibition of these paintings. The Trustees took accordingly a lease for two years from May, 1871, of the building known as No. 681 Fifth Avenue, which, although too small for their purpose, was the most available habitation they could find.In 1872, The Metropolitan Museum of Art was removed from its temporary quarters at 681 Fifth Avenue to 128 West Fourteenth Street. This large, double house, known as the Gruger Mansion, was leased for a number of years by the Trustees. The greenhouses and conservatories were fitted up for the exhibition of sculptures, and in one of its courtyards the Trustees built a picture-gallery. This gallery, lighted from the roof, had five times as much wall space as the old quarters on Fifth Avenue, and enabled the Trustees to extend the interest of the Museum by loan exhibitions of paintings,…