Château de Versailles seen from the forecourt, from Chalcographie du Louvre, Vol. 22

Château de Versailles seen from the forecourt, from Chalcographie du Louvre, Vol. 22

Israel Silvestre

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This engraving, showing the facade of the palace with its marble court and forecourt, dates to 1682, the year Louis XIV officially moved his court from Paris to Versailles.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Château de Versailles seen from the forecourt, from Chalcographie du Louvre, Vol. 22Château de Versailles seen from the forecourt, from Chalcographie du Louvre, Vol. 22Château de Versailles seen from the forecourt, from Chalcographie du Louvre, Vol. 22Château de Versailles seen from the forecourt, from Chalcographie du Louvre, Vol. 22Château de Versailles seen from the forecourt, from Chalcographie du Louvre, Vol. 22

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.