Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 24 (recto)

Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 24 (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 a central section that is framed on the top and bottom by a decorative border by lines, diamonds, and circular forms; middle section is decorated with a circle containing an 8-petaled flower flanking both sides of a diamond enclosing a small 8-peataled flower in the center. Bottom register is decorated with 7 squares with ornamental elements including quatrefoils, spheres, birds, and floral motifs.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 24 (recto)Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 24 (recto)Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 24 (recto)Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 24 (recto)Pretiosa Gemma delle virtuose donne, page 24 (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.