Old woman, from the Dance of Death

Old woman, from the Dance of Death

Wenceslaus Hollar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A wreath crowned skeleton raises his arm above a bent old woman walking to the right. Another skeleton dances and plays the dulcimer at right.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Old woman, from the Dance of DeathOld woman, from the Dance of DeathOld woman, from the Dance of DeathOld woman, from the Dance of DeathOld woman, from the Dance of Death

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.