Antique bust of a woman

Antique bust of a woman

Wenceslaus Hollar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sculpted bust of Faustina the Younger, directed to right, wearing a ribbon in her hair and loose robe, her left shoulder and breast bare; first state, before title added to lower left.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Antique bust of a womanAntique bust of a womanAntique bust of a womanAntique bust of a womanAntique bust of a woman

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.