Modelli Artificiosi (...) Parte seconda (Plate 27)

Modelli Artificiosi (...) Parte seconda (Plate 27)

Theodor van Kessel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The monogram AV on the bottom left of this print identifies its maker as the Utrecht goldsmith Adam van Vianen. The print is part of the series Artful Models of Various Silver Vases and Other Capricious Work, consisting of 48 plates, published by his son Christiaen van Vianen. This print shows a quarter of what appears to be an oval silver dish. Because it is a symmetrical design, it was not thought necessary to display the dish in its entirety. With the help of two mirrors, placed on the straight lines on the left and top of the print the viewer could reconstruct the complete design. The same could be achieved by making copies by way of tracing or pouncing the print.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Modelli Artificiosi (...) Parte seconda (Plate 27)Modelli Artificiosi (...) Parte seconda (Plate 27)Modelli Artificiosi (...) Parte seconda (Plate 27)Modelli Artificiosi (...) Parte seconda (Plate 27)Modelli Artificiosi (...) Parte seconda (Plate 27)

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.