Triumphal arch covered in foliage with mounted troops below, a temporary decoration for the entry of Pope Clement VIII in Bologna in 1598

Triumphal arch covered in foliage with mounted troops below, a temporary decoration for the entry of Pope Clement VIII in Bologna in 1598

Guido Reni

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate from the 1599 edition of 'Descrittione de gli apparati fatti in Bologna per la venuta di N.S. Papa Clemente VIII', a book containing a description of the festivities for Pope Clement VIII's entry to Bologna and nine etchings by Reni illustrating the temporary decorations for the event. Originally published by Vittorio Benacci in Bologna in 1598 with eight plates by Reni. A second edition in 1599 contained this additional plate and a later edition (undated) was published by Gioseffo Longhi.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Triumphal arch covered in foliage with mounted troops below, a temporary decoration for the entry of Pope Clement VIII in Bologna in 1598Triumphal arch covered in foliage with mounted troops below, a temporary decoration for the entry of Pope Clement VIII in Bologna in 1598Triumphal arch covered in foliage with mounted troops below, a temporary decoration for the entry of Pope Clement VIII in Bologna in 1598Triumphal arch covered in foliage with mounted troops below, a temporary decoration for the entry of Pope Clement VIII in Bologna in 1598Triumphal arch covered in foliage with mounted troops below, a temporary decoration for the entry of Pope Clement VIII in Bologna in 1598

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.