Saint Cecilia

Gustave Moreau

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Moreau was not a practicing Christian, but his deep belief in the spiritual value of art drew him to Catholic martyrs such as Saint Cecilia. Here, he shows the patron saint of music playing an elaborate lyre, a classical symbol of creativity, as she gazes heavenward, suggesting both the divine inspiration of her song and its devotion to God. This work displays the great variety of textures and effects Moreau was able to achieve with watercolor, a medium he explored consistently during the last three decades of his career.

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