Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 26 (recto)

Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 26 (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 3 horizontal registers that form a corner. Top register is decorated with a pattern of flowers connected together by their overlapping stems. Middle register is decorated with a pattern of circles with 4 diamonds around the outside and quatrefoils formed by vines with leaves. Bottom register is decorated with a single flower that emanates from the corner; this flower is characterized by a heart with arrows shot through it.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 26 (recto)Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 26 (recto)Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 26 (recto)Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 26 (recto)Teatro delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne..., page 26 (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.