In the midst of a recession economy, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York attracted 5,240,000 visitors during the fiscal year that ended June 30. This is the first year since 2001 that attendance at the Metropolitan has exceeded five million.

Among the 30 exhibitions presented at the museum during the past year was Vermeer's Masterpiece The Milkmaid (September 10-November 29, 2009) which lured in 329,446 visitors to see the special loan of one of Vermeer's most admired paintings from Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. The exhibit marked the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's historic voyage from the Netherlands to New York and featured works from the Met's collection including five Vermeers and other artists of the Dutch Golden Age.

Three current exhibitions are also contributing to high attendance figures: Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 27-August 15, 2010) has hosted 380,574 visitors to date, Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú (April 27-October 31, weather permitting) recorded 208,313 visitors so far, and American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity (May 5-August 15, 2010) has clocked in 175,033 visitors since its opening.

The overall attendance number, which includes visitors to The Cloisters museum and gardens, ranks among the highest in the museum's entire 130-year history.