Lucidario di Recami, page 13 (recto)

Iseppo Foresto

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Designed by Iseppo Foresto, published by Jeronimo Calepino, 1564. From top to bottom, and left to right: Second half of a double-page design composed of 3 sections, continuing from previous page. First section occupies the top half and is decorated with a curving grape vine with leaves and dotted fruit, printed upon a gridded background. Second section occupies the majority of the bottom half and is decorated in the center with an upside-down vase that is flanked by curving vines on the sides and a vine with acorns and fruit on the top. Third section occupies the bottom right corner and is decorated with an interlace motif formed by vines, which is printed upon a gridded background.

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