Design for Mirror Frame
Giovanni Battista Natali III
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
This beautiful design for a mirror was made by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Natali III. He has drawn one half of the mirror in full detail, and only suggested certain details for the other half where changes to the design could be considered. The mirror is rendered in a late Baroque style, which places it relatively early in Natali’s career. His later designs show the emergence of the new Rococo style which culminates in his involvement in the production of the so-called Salottino di Porcellana (Small Porcelain Room) for the Queen of Naples, Maria Amalia of Saxony. Not much is known about Natali’s career, which can partly be credited to the fact that he was active in various art disciplines in different cities throughout Italy, making it difficult to trace his oeuvre. He was, moreover, also involved in the production of artworks of an ephemeral nature, such as set pieces for festivals and the theater which were usually destroyed after they had served their purpose. The 18th-century Italian inscription on this sheet attributes its design to the Venetian artist Carlo de’ Nobili, demonstrating that even though in this case the work of art has survived, its author was forgotten relatively soon after its creation.
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.