Portrait of the Duke of Alva, from a Series of Tazza Designs

Portrait of the Duke of Alva, from a Series of Tazza Designs

Theodor de Bry

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the central medallion, a portrait of the Duke of Alva as Commander of Folly, shown in profile, facing left dressed in armor, with the inverted head of jester hanging from his neck. The medallion is framed by circular ornamental frieze with a variety of scenes depicting vomitting, defecating, and fornicating human figures and monkeys. From a series of four designs for ornamented tazza, or drinking vessels.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portrait of the Duke of Alva, from a Series of Tazza DesignsPortrait of the Duke of Alva, from a Series of Tazza DesignsPortrait of the Duke of Alva, from a Series of Tazza DesignsPortrait of the Duke of Alva, from a Series of Tazza DesignsPortrait of the Duke of Alva, from a Series of Tazza Designs

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.