
Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 12 (recto)
Isabella Catanea Parasole
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Written by Isabella Catanea Parasole, Italian, ca. 1575-ca. 1625, published by Mauritio Bona, Rome. From top to bottom, and left to right: Design composed of 4 horizontal registers that form a corner. First register is decorated with a pattern of flowers that have encircling stems forming upside-down heart shapes. Second register is decorated with a straight line of coiling leaves that flank a fleur-de-lis at the corner. Third register is decorated with a bird wearing a crown and shield at the corner, which is surrounded by curving foliage. Fourth register is decorated with a pattern of fleurs-de-lis with encircling stems that surrounded a flower at the corner.
Drawings and Prints
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
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.