Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 20 (recto)

Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 20 (recto)

Isabella Catanea Parasole

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Written by Isabella Catanea Parasole, Italian, ca. 1575-ca. 1625, published by Lucchino Gargano, Venice, bound by Hardy-Mennil. Design composed of 2 horizontal registers. Top register consists of 2 sections: left section is decorated with 2 large squares, left square has a central circular motif and right square has a central quatrefoil motif; right section is decorated with 6 smaller squares (divided into 2 levels of 3 squares) that are ornamented with an alternating floral and quatrefoil motif. Bottom register is decorated with 5 ornamented squares: first and second squares depict a similar quatrefoil motif, while the third, fourth and fifth squares depict a similar circular motif.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 20 (recto)Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 20 (recto)Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 20 (recto)Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 20 (recto)Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 20 (recto)

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.