Théâtre Italien (Gioacchino Rossini, 1792–1868)

Eugène Delacroix

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The reverse side of this caricature of the Italian composer Rossini is covered in red chalk, providing evidence of its transfer to the lithographic stone. The commentary that accompanied the print in the French daily "Le Miroir" poked fun at Delacroix for publishing it anonymously, while complimenting his drawing as one of "uncommon boldness" that was "biting and witty." Although he did not sign his satirical prints, they demonstrate Delacroix’s early objection to the dominance of the neoclassical aesthetic. His later work extended the same protest stylistically.

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