Allegory of Life

Giorgio Ghisi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This compelling and enigmatic image has elicited many explanations of its content, none of which have entirely resolved its meaning. An elderly man at left—possibly a philosopher—leans against a riverside rock, his hand outstretched to a crowned woman who strides toward him at right. In the most general terms, this scene is understood as an allegory with a hopeful message: the man who has poorly guided the boat of his own existence is saved by the woman representing reason. The print’s large size, numerous details, and intertwined elements contribute to a visual puzzle that requires great concentration to understand. This challenge would have appealed to an educated audience in the sixteenth century.

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