Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange-Nassau

Pieter Tanjé

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

When William III, Prince of Orange died in 1702, his title passed to Johan Willem Friso. The latter never ruled the provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel voted to become a republic. Friso was, however, recognized as stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen and held that title until he drowned in Diep in 1711. That sad event is commemorated by a relief below the portrait oval and a mourning putto.

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