Giardineto novo di punti tagliati et gropposi per exercitio & ornamento delle donne (Venice 1554), page 3 (verso)

Giardineto novo di punti tagliati et gropposi per exercitio & ornamento delle donne (Venice 1554), page 3 (verso)

Matteo Pagano

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published by Matteo Pagano, Italian, 1515-1588, bound by Lloyd, Wallis & Lloyd, British, active London after 1821. From top to bottom, and left to right: Design composed of 6 vertical columns printed upon a grid. First column begins with a "Z” followed by a pattern of black diamonds and squares with a linear motif. Second column shows letters: "N-Y" without "U" and "W". Third columns shows letters: "A-M" without "J". Fourth column is narrow and is decorated with black triangles. Fifth column is decorated with alternating 'X' and 'S' pattern formed by black triangles. Sixth column is decorated with black triangles in the shape of a vine with leaves.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Giardineto novo di punti tagliati et gropposi per exercitio & ornamento delle donne (Venice 1554), page 3 (verso)Giardineto novo di punti tagliati et gropposi per exercitio & ornamento delle donne (Venice 1554), page 3 (verso)Giardineto novo di punti tagliati et gropposi per exercitio & ornamento delle donne (Venice 1554), page 3 (verso)Giardineto novo di punti tagliati et gropposi per exercitio & ornamento delle donne (Venice 1554), page 3 (verso)Giardineto novo di punti tagliati et gropposi per exercitio & ornamento delle donne (Venice 1554), page 3 (verso)

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.