Storia di due amanti (Tale of Two Lovers)

Enea Silvio Piccolomini

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who became Pope Pius II (r. 1458–64), wrote this tale of adultery in 1444 before taking holy orders (the original was written in Latin). It may have been based on a true incident that took place in Siena. The narrative circulated widely both in manuscript and then in numerous published editions after the pope's death. The tragic and rather cynical tone of the Latin text is lightened with a happy ending in the Italian version, culminating in a splendid marriage and large family. This book is probably the first illustrated edition. Some of the woodcuts may actually have been reused from other books, as was often the case in Pacini's press.

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