This intentional separation of the Collection as a “museum throughout the museum” met with blended criticism and approval at the time, though the acquisition of the gathering was seen as a coup for the Met. Some have argued that it might be educationally more helpful to have works from given colleges of painting in the same part of the museum. Melencolia I by Albrecht DürerThough other previous departments include significant numbers of drawings and prints, the Drawings and Prints division particularly concentrates on North American pieces and Western European works produced after the Middle Ages. The first gift of Old Master drawings, comprising 670 sheets, was presented as a single group in 1880 by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, although most proved to be misattributed.