Man Wearing a Large Cloak and a Small Naked Man on His Head

Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ribera, a prolific draftsman who spent most of his career in Naples, is known for his engaging, caricature-like drawings. Here, a bald man gazing toward the viewer is surmounted by a small figure who holds a banner as if he has conquered a summit. The banner is inscribed with the name Niccolò Simonelli, a Roman collector, patron, and amateur art dealer. The significance of the inscription is not clear. We do not know if Ribera knew Simonelli or if the inscription indicates that Simonelli owned this drawing. The banner might even have been a later addition, and the small man originally may have held only the pole.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art