The Metropolitan Museum of Art will honor outgoing director Philippe de Montebello for his 31 years of leadership with a show of 300 of the most transformative works acquired during his tenure, the museum said Monday during a press lunch to announce its 2008-09 program.

The show, entitled “The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions,” will be on view in the Tisch Galleries from October 24, 2008, to February 1, 2009. The works exhibited will span centuries and represent virtually every culture included in the museum collection. Among the highlights are Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and ancient Buddhist statues, a Roman water basin, and paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Paul Gauguin, and Jasper Johns.

Mr. de Montebello first joined the Met in 1963 and is currently the longest-serving leader at any major museum in the world.

A retrospective of the work of J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), which will be exhibited in the Tisch Galleries from July 1 to September 21, is a second highlight of the upcoming schedule. The show will illustrate the artist’s mastery of light and color in his extensive range of subjects, which includes seascapes, topographical views, and historical figures.

Also on view at the museum later this year will be a show of stone masterpieces in “Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe” from July 1 to September 21; a survey of the works of the 20th-century Italian painter Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964), scheduled to open September 16 and close December 14, and a show of 11 works by the 17th-century Chinese artist Wang Hui entitled “Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632-1717),” which will run from September 9, 2008, through January 4, 2009.

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