Mulier primaria Antuerpiensis, in ornatus domestica (Gentlewoman of Antwerp in domestic adornment)

Mulier primaria Antuerpiensis, in ornatus domestica (Gentlewoman of Antwerp in domestic adornment)

Wenceslaus Hollar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A young woman from Antwerp standing to left, looking towards the viewer, holding a fan in her right hand; wearing a plumed wide-brimmed hat over lace-edged veil, collar over laced bodice, apron, gown upturned at the front, and underskirt with broad striped border; second state, with some re-work and the date erased

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mulier primaria Antuerpiensis, in ornatus domestica (Gentlewoman of Antwerp in domestic adornment)Mulier primaria Antuerpiensis, in ornatus domestica (Gentlewoman of Antwerp in domestic adornment)Mulier primaria Antuerpiensis, in ornatus domestica (Gentlewoman of Antwerp in domestic adornment)Mulier primaria Antuerpiensis, in ornatus domestica (Gentlewoman of Antwerp in domestic adornment)Mulier primaria Antuerpiensis, in ornatus domestica (Gentlewoman of Antwerp in domestic adornment)

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.