Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 14 (recto)

Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 14 (recto)

Isabella Catanea Parasole

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Designed by Isabella Catanea Parasole, Italian, ca. 1575-ca.1625, published by Gugliemo Facciotti, Rome. From top to bottom, and left to right: Designed composed of 2 horizontal registers that are each framed on the top and bottom by a decorative border. Top register is decorated with 4 squares; the first 3 squares are ornamented with a floral motif (first and second squares have the same motif) and the fourth square is ornamented with a sideways 'S' motif. Bottom register is decorated with 4 squares that are ornamented with a floral motif (third and fourth squares have the same motif).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 14 (recto)Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 14 (recto)Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 14 (recto)Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 14 (recto)Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 14 (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.