Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 9 (recto)

Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 9 (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 divided into 2 halves. Left half is composed of 2 horizontal registers: top register is decorated with a pattern of 5-leafed plants that sit upon an ornamented base characterized by circles, diamonds, and an interlace pattern; bottom register is decorated with a pattern of diamonds with floral elements that form their highest corners, which sit upon an ornamented base. Right half is composed of 3 horizontal registers: top register is decorated with a pattern of semi-ellipses that sit upon a base ornamented with circles containing various diamond motifs, middle register is decorated with 3 triangular motifs upon an ornamented base, bottom register is decorated with pattern of diamonds containing circles with a 6-petaled floral motif at the center. Each half-reigster contains an inscription (P 48, P 74, P 80, P 78).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 9 (recto)Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 9 (recto)Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 9 (recto)Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 9 (recto)Fiore D'Ogni Virtu Per le Nobili Et Honeste Matrone, page 9 (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.