Psyche

Léon Davent

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Léon Davent—also known by the monogram L. D., as seen in the lower right corner—was one of the premier engravers associated with the School of Fontainebleau (1542–48). Under the artistic direction of the Italian painter Francesco Primaticcio, Davent and other printmakers translated drawings by leading Italian Mannerists into engravings and etchings, including those by Primaticcio himself, Michelangelo, Rosso Fiorentino, and Parmigianino. The design for this engraving has been attributed to Giulio Romano. By printing his engraving in red ink, Davent was possibly trying to achieve a visual effect similar to that of red-chalk drawings, which were popular at the French court and appealed to the discerning collectors he hoped to attract.

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