Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

Anonymous, French, 18th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An engraving of an interior scene with Christ seated in a chair, addressing Mary and Martha, with three men standing behind him in the shadows. The print was published by Jean Mariette (French, 1660-1742), one of the most important print publishers active in Paris in the first half of the 18th century. An attribution to Claude Simpol (French, 1666-1716) has been tentatively propoaed.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Christ in the House of Martha and MaryChrist in the House of Martha and MaryChrist in the House of Martha and MaryChrist in the House of Martha and MaryChrist in the House of Martha and Mary

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.