Apollo, Pan, and a putto blowing a horn, from a series of eight compositions after Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Ulysses Gallery (destroyed 1738-39) at Fontainebleau

Apollo, Pan, and a putto blowing a horn, from a series of eight compositions after Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Ulysses Gallery (destroyed 1738-39) at Fontainebleau

Giorgio Ghisi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This engraving depicting the contest between Pan and Apollo is based on one of four frescoes—the other three represent groups of Muses—that surrounded a central depiction of Venus and the Fates on the vault of the Galerie d'Ulisse at Fontainebleau. Given the planetary symbolism of the ceiling, known today only through descriptions, prints, and drawings, it seems likely that the music making here is associated with the harmonies of the cosmos.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Apollo, Pan, and a putto blowing a horn, from a series of eight compositions after Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Ulysses Gallery (destroyed 1738-39) at FontainebleauApollo, Pan, and a putto blowing a horn, from a series of eight compositions after Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Ulysses Gallery (destroyed 1738-39) at FontainebleauApollo, Pan, and a putto blowing a horn, from a series of eight compositions after Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Ulysses Gallery (destroyed 1738-39) at FontainebleauApollo, Pan, and a putto blowing a horn, from a series of eight compositions after Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Ulysses Gallery (destroyed 1738-39) at FontainebleauApollo, Pan, and a putto blowing a horn, from a series of eight compositions after Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Ulysses Gallery (destroyed 1738-39) at Fontainebleau

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.