Male Actor in Ballet Costume
Jean Berain
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Drawing with a design for a male ballet costume, consisting of a highly ornamented tonnelet and matching knee breeches with grotesque motifs. The tonnelet, whose structure almost resembles a classical Roman armor, is decorated with an open-winged bat on the chest, which is flanked by strips with beads; similar strips with beads make up the upper part of the sleeves, the shoulders adorned with a cartouche around another bead, and with long, hanging sleeves with ruffled points below the level of the elbows. On the stomach is a grotesque face, and below it, the front part of the tonnelet's skirt is made up of four panels with grotesque heads, crowned by stylized fleurs de lis, from which hang tassels; the back of the skirt is made up of ruffled points, in a fashion similar to the sleeves. Under the tonnelet is a chemise with a pattern of diamonds and cuffs with gems and ruffled borders, and matching knee breeches, with the same diamond pattern and border with gems, and grotesque heads on the knees. A choker with gems, flanked by triangles also with gems makes up the collar of the chemise. An elaborate headdress with scrolling motifs and branches with stylized leaves adorns the long, loose, curly hair. Plain, white stockings and square-toed, high-heeled shoes with jeweled rosette brooches and other gems cover the legs and feet.
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.