Thomas Jackson

John Downman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thomas Jackson, portrayed here, was widely connected to the artistic and musical communities of his day. His father William (1730–1803) held the post of organist at Exeter Cathedral, and also a writer, artist, and friend of Thomas Gainsborough. The son, who holds a cello, inherited his father's musical ability, and was also a gifted amateur artist, but mostly remembered for his career as a diplomat at Turin and Vienna. His sister Mary later married Dowman, who made this work.

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