Death's coat of arms, from the Dance of Death

Death's coat of arms, from the Dance of Death

Wenceslaus Hollar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A noble couple steady a shield on which a death's head, surmounted by by a helm, mantle and a crest with an hour-glass and two arms bones holding a piece of a skull aloft.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Death's coat of arms, from the Dance of DeathDeath's coat of arms, from the Dance of DeathDeath's coat of arms, from the Dance of DeathDeath's coat of arms, from the Dance of DeathDeath's coat of arms, 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.