Apollo and Daphne

Andrea Schiavone (Andrea Meldola)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Schiavone learned to etch by studying the prints of Parmigianino, the first Italian artist to realize the medium's potential for approximating the spontaneity of drawing. Even more experimental and loose in his approach than his mentor, Schiavone created a number of lively depictions of mythological scenes. Here, the seeming swiftness of his line conveys Daphne's transformation where her fingers turn into branches and her toes root into the ground beside her father, the river god Peneus.

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