Satyr playing a lyre and a sleeping nymph

Master of 1515

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Even the nationality of the idiosyncratic artist who created this print is uncertain. The only definite information we have about him is the date of 1515 that appears on one of his prints, and the knowledge that several of his architectural motifs derive from a sketchbook attributed to the Milanese sculptor Agostino Busti. The printmaker's style, in which closely placed parallel lines create patches of shading, is closest to that of Mantegna. All but six of the forty engravings attributed to the Master include drypoint burr, very evident here in the rich velvety black lines and smudgy shadows. This print is a characteristic example of the artist's naive yet charming interpretation of classical subject matter, perhaps inspired in part by the illustrations of the 'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili' of 1499.

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