L'Atelier de Rembrandt, tableau de J. Gilbert (Rembrandt's Studio, a painting by J. Gilbert), from "L'Univers Illustré," p. 395

William Luson Thomas

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rembrandt is shown working in his studio, painting at an easel while observed by a well-to-do Dutch patron and other figures. Next to the artist is a table covered with a carpet and painting paraphernalia. On the left are elements of costume, and three female figures, an old woman wearing a ruff, a young pretty girl, and a child, who examines sheets in an open portfolio. Sir John Gilbert, who conceived the scene, and Thomas who engraved it, were both British, but the wood engraving published in a French periodical, demonstrating the frequent flow across the Channel of artistic imagery and skilled printmaking.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art