Design for a Canopy Bed

Anonymous, French, 18th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The canopy bed played an essential role in every nobleman’s bedroom. Not only did it afford privacy but, especially in the more northern parts of Europe, the rich draperies also played an important part in keeping the temperature agreeable. During the 17th and 18th century more and more attention was paid to the design of canopy beds. The headboards, poles and feet were sculpted or carved into all kinds of shapes, and expensive, sometimes meticulously embroidered draperies were chosen. This design for a canopy bed is relatively modest and was probably intended for a somewhat lower end of the market. The only details of note are the sculpted turtle doves on top of the baldachin, which indicate that this design may have been meant for the bedroom of a newly wedded couple.

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