Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 3 (recto)

Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 3 (recto)

Isabella Catanea Parasole

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Designed by Isabella Catanea Parasole, Italian, ca. 1575-ca. 1625, published by Antonio Fachetti, Rome. From top to bottom, and left to right: Design is composed of 4 horizontal registers that form a corner. First register is decorated with a pattern of flowers with curving stems that form an upside-down heart shape. Second register is decorated with a straight vine of coiling leaves. Third register is decorated with a Moresque pattern, among which a bird wearing a crown and a shield is illustrated. Fourth register is decorated with a pattern of fleurs-de-lis with curving stems that encircle the flowers in the center.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 3 (recto)Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 3 (recto)Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 3 (recto)Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 3 (recto)Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 3 (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.