Design for a Fireplace

Anonymous, French, 17th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This drawing reproduces a fireplace published in a print series by Melchior II Tavernier (French, Antwerp 1595-1665 Paris) in 1633. Eight years earlier, Tavernier had hired a young artist called Jean Barbet to record some of the latest novelties in interior design from in and around Paris, which were then etched by Abraham Bosse (French, Tours 1602/1604–1676 Paris). The rich and sculptural designs proved so popular, that shortly after their publication copies were made in The Netherlands, Germany and England. In addition to printed copies, a luxurious set of drawn copies was also made in France intended for the British architect Inigo Jones (British, Smithfield (London) 1573-1652 London) and the so-called ‘Office of Works’ to present to Queen Henrietta Maria (wife of King Charles I of England). Jones was to interpret the designs in his own manner and execute them in several palaces belonging to the English royal family.

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