Design for a Bookcase with Writing Desk

Design for a Bookcase with Writing Desk

Anonymous, Italian, 16th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This design combines a case for book storage with a writing desk and is therefore essentially a precursor to the secretary desk which would emerge in the 17th century. Since not many bookcases from before 1600 survive, this drawing is highly informative. Half of it has been filled with books and it shows how the different compartments were used for books of various sizes. The inscriptions below the desk mention ‘casette a tirare’ which indicates that the design also incorporated three drawers: an element that would not become common in furniture until the early 17th century.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Design for a Bookcase with Writing DeskDesign for a Bookcase with Writing DeskDesign for a Bookcase with Writing DeskDesign for a Bookcase with Writing DeskDesign for a Bookcase with Writing Desk

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.