"A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"

"A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"

Charles Samuel Keene

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Keene's image focuses on an interaction between two smocked farmers and a man carring a basket outside a village church was reproduced as a wood-engraving in Punch. Accompanying text sheds light on its subject: Rustic (who has just been informed of the meaning of the "B.D." affixed to the Parson's name on the notice): 'Bachelor o' Divinity! Then that there man aint a right man to praich, by my ways o'thinking!' Informant: 'Why not?' Rustic: 'Cause he calls hisself a Bachelor! An' I know he's a married man.' Keene was a leading British illustrator who worked for Punch between 1864 and 1890. His imagery generally focused on humorous situations in humble surroundings, unlike his contemporary George Du Maurier who satirized London society.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.