The Gallery of European and American Art offers a selective overview of the principal trends and influences in Western art from the 13th through the 19th centuries. Comprising of paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts, the collection is arranged in a loose chronological order with works in all media and from diverse geographic regions freely intermixed. 

Interpretive texts anchor the presentation and provide important contextual information.  The selection of works on view in the gallery address the role of Christianity in the visual arts (Sacred Faces and Sacred Spaces), the emergence of new types of paintings (New Subjects, New Approaches), and the rise of imperialism and tourism (Distant Lands Explored or Imagined). The installation pays attention to the cross-cultural exchanges and encounters that fueled the stylistic and technical development of European visual arts.