The Three Fates

The Three Fates

Anonymous, Italian, North Italy, 16th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Clotho spins the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle, Lachesis measures the thread of life with her rod and Atropos cuts the thread of life. They are surrounded by figures that reflect different aspects of fate.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.