Auricular Cartouche with the Painter Hans von Aachen, the Goldsmith Paulus van Vianen, and the Sculptor Adriaen de Vries

Auricular Cartouche with the Painter Hans von Aachen, the Goldsmith Paulus van Vianen, and the Sculptor Adriaen de Vries

Jacob Lutma

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the center of this characteristic Auricular Style cartouche the likeness of three of the most prominent artists at the Hapsburg court of Rudolf II in Prague have been depicted. In the foreground is the painter Hans von Aachen who is painting the portrait of the goldsmith Paulus van Vianen. Joining them in the background is the sculptor Adriaen de Vries. The print celebrates not only the three art disciplines held in greatest esteem by Rudolph II, but also emphasizes the fact that the main protagonists of these had been artists of northern descent.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Auricular Cartouche with the Painter Hans von Aachen, the Goldsmith Paulus van Vianen, and the Sculptor Adriaen de VriesAuricular Cartouche with the Painter Hans von Aachen, the Goldsmith Paulus van Vianen, and the Sculptor Adriaen de VriesAuricular Cartouche with the Painter Hans von Aachen, the Goldsmith Paulus van Vianen, and the Sculptor Adriaen de VriesAuricular Cartouche with the Painter Hans von Aachen, the Goldsmith Paulus van Vianen, and the Sculptor Adriaen de VriesAuricular Cartouche with the Painter Hans von Aachen, the Goldsmith Paulus van Vianen, and the Sculptor Adriaen de Vries

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.