Titlepage, from "Septem Psalmi Davidici" (Seven Psalms of David)

Titlepage, from "Septem Psalmi Davidici" (Seven Psalms of David)

Melchior Model

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Titlepage to the series "Septem Psalmi Davidici". The print shows a strapwork cartouche with the title information. A large part of the print has been covered with blue paint and decorated with fleurs-de-lis in gold. This decoration covers the original inscriptions which indicated that this is in fact the second edition of the series. The edge of the print has been traced in gold paint.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Titlepage, from "Septem Psalmi Davidici" (Seven Psalms of David)Titlepage, from "Septem Psalmi Davidici" (Seven Psalms of David)Titlepage, from "Septem Psalmi Davidici" (Seven Psalms of David)Titlepage, from "Septem Psalmi Davidici" (Seven Psalms of David)Titlepage, from "Septem Psalmi Davidici" (Seven Psalms of David)

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.