Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 29 (recto)

Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 29 (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: Design composed of 2 horizontal registers. Top register is decorated with 3 squares: left and right squares are ornamented with the same motif characterized by 4 semi-circular lines attached to the side of an 'X', while the middle square is ornamented with a quatrefoil motif. Bottom register is decorated with 4 squares that are each ornamented with a circular floral motif (first and fourth squares have the same motif, and second and third squares have the same motif).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 29 (recto)Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 29 (recto)Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 29 (recto)Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 29 (recto)Gemma pretiosa della virtuose donne, page 29 (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.