Saint Paul's, South side (Ecclesiae Cathedralis St. Pauli, A Meridi Prospectus), from "The History of St. Paul's Cathedral in London"

Saint Paul's, South side (Ecclesiae Cathedralis St. Pauli, A Meridi Prospectus), from "The History of St. Paul's Cathedral in London"

Wenceslaus Hollar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

St. Paul's cathedral seen from the south. Similar to 1991.1336.1 (P. 1017), but shown without the spire over the crossing tower, which had been struck by lightning and burned in 1561. The portico erected by Charles I is shown, as are changes to the nave. This first state was issued in William Dugdale's "History of St. Paul's Cathedral", 1658. A second state later appeared in Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. III, 1673.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Saint Paul's, South side (Ecclesiae Cathedralis St. Pauli, A Meridi Prospectus), from "The History of St. Paul's Cathedral in London"Saint Paul's, South side (Ecclesiae Cathedralis St. Pauli, A Meridi Prospectus), from "The History of St. Paul's Cathedral in London"Saint Paul's, South side (Ecclesiae Cathedralis St. Pauli, A Meridi Prospectus), from "The History of St. Paul's Cathedral in London"Saint Paul's, South side (Ecclesiae Cathedralis St. Pauli, A Meridi Prospectus), from "The History of St. Paul's Cathedral in London"Saint Paul's, South side (Ecclesiae Cathedralis St. Pauli, A Meridi Prospectus), from "The History of St. Paul's Cathedral in London"

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.