Frederic William Rhinelander (February 12, 1828 – September 24, 1904) was an American who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age and served as president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[15] Rhinelander was a founding trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1871 along with Theodore Roosevelt Sr., William Cullen Bryant, Andrew Haswell Green, Alexander Turney Stewart, and John A.

[16] He traveled extensively in Europe seeking to secure "new works of art and to study techniques of organization and preservation at museums and galleries.

"[3] He was responsible for securing the helmet of Jeanne d'Arc, the Pompeian room, the portrait of the Princess de Condé by Nicolas de Largillière[16][17] After the death of Museum president, Henry Gurdon Marquand, in 1902, Rhinelander, who had been vice-president of the Museum since 1892,[18] became the president.

The Rhinelanders had a home in New York City and had a French Second Empire style home at 10 Redwood Street in Newport, Rhode Island, built by John Hubbard Sturgis build between 1863 and 1864 (today it is an annex to the Redwood Library located across the street).

[13] His niece Edith Wharton reportedly "mourned his death, wearing black clothes and canceling social engagements.

[38] The pallbearers at his funeral were J. Pierpont Morgan, F. Augustus Schermerhon, Charles F. McKim, Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, John De Witt Warner, James Goodwin, George Gordon King Jr., and Gen. Luigi Palma di Cesnola.