The soldier kissing the woman's hand (from John Ogilby, "Aesopics or a Second Colllection of Fables," 1668)

Wenceslaus Hollar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In a dark room, a soldier at left bends to kiss the hand of a woman standing in profile at right, a fire in a grate at left with much smoke and candlesticks on the mantelpiece, a waiting woman standing by, table with chair and chest behind at right; illustration to John Ogilby, 'The Ephesian Matron', in Ogilby, 'Æsopicks: or, A Second Collection of Fables', 2nd edition (London, 1675)

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