NEW YORK—The Metropolitan Museum of Art is planning an exhibition titled “The Philippe de Montebello Years: The Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions,” in honor of the upcoming retirement of its director of more than 30 years, the New York Times reports.  

Helen C. Evans, the Met’s curator of Byzantine art, is coordinating the curatorial team that has the daunting task of winnowing the 80,000 pieces that have entered the museum’s collection during de Montebello’s tenure to an exhibition of 160 artworks.

The show opens October 24 in the museum’s Tisch Galleries.