Corona delle Nobile et Virtuose Donne, Libro Terzo, page 9 (recto)

Cesare Vecellio

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Designed by Cesare Vecellio, Italian, Pieve di Cadore 1521-1601 Venice, Venice, published by Alessandro de' Vecchi, Italian, active 17th century, Venice. From top to bottom, and left to right: Design composed of 3 horizontal registers. Top register is decorated with a pattern of flowers with curving striped stems. Middle register is decorated with coiling vines of leaves and flowers, which various animals like a dog, squirrel, fox, and a lion climb. Bottom register is decorated with coiling vines of leaves and flowers; at the left side sits Orpheus who serenades animals like deer, birds, foxes, and an iguana, which advance toward him.

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art