Washington Taking Leave of the Officers of His Army–at Francis's Tavern, Broad Street, New York, December 4th, 1783–"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."

Washington Taking Leave of the Officers of His Army–at Francis's Tavern, Broad Street, New York, December 4th, 1783–"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."

Nathaniel Currier

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scene from the American Revolution. Washington and troops at Fraunces Tavern, New York. George Washington raises a glass to toast the troops. Officers Friedrich von Steuben, Henry Knox, George Clinton, and Alexander Hamilton surround Washington with bowed heads. Men waving an American flag and carrying bayonettes stand behind the officers at left.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Washington Taking Leave of the Officers of His Army–at Francis's Tavern, Broad Street, New York, December 4th, 1783–"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."Washington Taking Leave of the Officers of His Army–at Francis's Tavern, Broad Street, New York, December 4th, 1783–"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."Washington Taking Leave of the Officers of His Army–at Francis's Tavern, Broad Street, New York, December 4th, 1783–"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."Washington Taking Leave of the Officers of His Army–at Francis's Tavern, Broad Street, New York, December 4th, 1783–"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."Washington Taking Leave of the Officers of His Army–at Francis's Tavern, Broad Street, New York, December 4th, 1783–"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."

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.