Horizontal Panel with Design for a Thimble with the Annuciation Below a Frieze with Three Figures in Ovals

Horizontal Panel with Design for a Thimble with the Annuciation Below a Frieze with Three Figures in Ovals

Johann Theodor de Bry

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thimble design with the Annunciation scene between two medallions, each framed by text in German. Above, a frieze with three ovals containing standing figures against an ornamental design in blackwork.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Horizontal Panel with Design for a Thimble with the Annuciation Below a Frieze with Three Figures in OvalsHorizontal Panel with Design for a Thimble with the Annuciation Below a Frieze with Three Figures in OvalsHorizontal Panel with Design for a Thimble with the Annuciation Below a Frieze with Three Figures in OvalsHorizontal Panel with Design for a Thimble with the Annuciation Below a Frieze with Three Figures in OvalsHorizontal Panel with Design for a Thimble with the Annuciation Below a Frieze with Three Figures in Ovals

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.