An Emblem of Europe

Anonymous, British, 18th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An emblematic female figure of Europe wears classical garb, carries a snake-encircled staff and leans on a pile of books next to an armillary sphere and telescope, a quadrant at her feet (these objects symbolize travel, navigation and astronomy). At right a beehive stands before an ocean and ships (references to agriculture and commerce). The print is part of a group that includes America and Asia (52.585.73, 52.585.75).

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