The Silkworm Eggs Spread Out On Shelves, Plate 4 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

The Silkworm Eggs Spread Out On Shelves, Plate 4 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

Karel van Mallery

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fourth 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 women spreading the silkworm eggs out on shelves. In the background on the left two women hang sheets with silk thread to dry. In the foreground on the left a seated woman places the silkworm eggs onto a shelf. In the center various women take the silkworm eggs out of a basket that a little girl holds. On the left several woman carry and place the silk tree branches against the wall.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Silkworm Eggs Spread Out On Shelves, Plate 4 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]The Silkworm Eggs Spread Out On Shelves, Plate 4 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]The Silkworm Eggs Spread Out On Shelves, Plate 4 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]The Silkworm Eggs Spread Out On Shelves, Plate 4 from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]The Silkworm Eggs Spread Out On Shelves, Plate 4 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.