The Met's holiday tree is a magnificently lit, twenty-foot blue spruce that looms over a vivid eighteenth-century Neapolitan Nativity scene, enshrined in an abundant array of lifelike figures with silk-robed angels hovering above.

The installation is set in front of the eighteenth-century Spanish choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid in the Museum's Medieval Sculpture Hall. Recorded Christmas music adds to the enjoyment of the holiday display.

Please note: There are no tree-lighting ceremonies scheduled this year, but seasonal music is played in the gallery throughout the installation.

Viewable during Museum hours:
Sunday–Thursday: 10 am–5 pm
Friday and Saturday: 10 am–9 pm
The museum is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Photo credit: Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche display. 20 ft. blue spruce with a collection of 18th-century Neapolitan angels and cherubs among its boughs and groups of realistic crèche figures flanking the Nativity scene at its base, displayed in the Museum’s Medieval Sculpture Hall. Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964               

Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York