Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 23 (recto)

Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 23 (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 are framed on the left and right sides by borders decorated with diverse foliage patterns. First register is decorated with a wavy vine of an alternating pattern of a fleur-de-lis and another type of flower. Second register is decorated with 2 fleurs-de-lis, one is right-side up and the other is upside-down; there is a curving vine ornamented with diamonds and stripes that connect the 2 fleurs-de-lis. Third register is decorated with a pattern of flowers with curving striped stems. Fourth register is decorated with flowers in the shape of hearts with stems that coil outward.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 23 (recto)Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 23 (recto)Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 23 (recto)Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 23 (recto)Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 23 (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.