Emperor Justinian Receiving the First Imported Silkworm Eggs from Nestorian Monks, Plate 2 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

Emperor Justinian Receiving the First Imported Silkworm Eggs from Nestorian Monks, Plate 2 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

Karel van Mallery

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second plate from the series Vermis Sericus, engraved by Karel van Mallery, after Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus, and published by Philips Galle around 1595. Illustration of Emperor Justinian on horseback receiving silkworms eggs from Nestorian monks in a piazza. Justinian (center) wears a crown and is dressed in an ornamented cloak. To the right of Justinian are two monks dressed in monastic habits, who hand the Emperor a tube of silkworm eggs. Surrounding the central figures are Justinian's men, all dressed in military garb. In the immediate foreground a dog runs through the crowd. Depicted in the background are various buildings.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Emperor Justinian Receiving the First Imported Silkworm Eggs from Nestorian Monks, Plate 2 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]Emperor Justinian Receiving the First Imported Silkworm Eggs from Nestorian Monks, Plate 2 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]Emperor Justinian Receiving the First Imported Silkworm Eggs from Nestorian Monks, Plate 2 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]Emperor Justinian Receiving the First Imported Silkworm Eggs from Nestorian Monks, Plate 2 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]Emperor Justinian Receiving the First Imported Silkworm Eggs from Nestorian Monks, Plate 2 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

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.