Trionfo Di Virtu. Libro Novo..., page 18 (recto)

Matteo Pagano

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published by Matteo Pagano, Italian, 1515-1588, Venice. From top to bottom, and left to right: Design consists of a central section that is composed of 4 horizontal registers. First register is decorated with a pattern of a pair of sideways flowers that connect to one another by their stems. Second register is decorated with a pattern of diamonds that have a group of 3 acorns attached to the outside of the top and bottom corners. Third register is decorated with an angular zigzagging line. Fourth register appears very similar to the second register; however, a group of 3 'u' shapes flank the top and bottom of each diamond, instead of acorns. Surrounding all sides of this design are decorative borders (top and bottom borders are divided into 2 halves, each ornamented with a different pattern).

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