Diverses Pieces de Serruriers, page 16 (recto)

Jean Berain

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Engravings by Jean I Berain, French, Saint-Mihiel 1640-1711 Paris and Gabriel Ladame, French, active 1645-68. Designs published by Francois Langlois after Hughes Brisville, French, born ca. 1633, active Paris 1663. From top to bottom, and left to right: Design is in the shape of a rectangle that consists of 4 separate sections. The first section is of a design for a balustrade, which is ornamented with various geometric shapes and fleurs-de-lis. The second section is illustrated with coiling acanthus leaves. The third section is decorated with a design for a slanted balustrade. The fourth section is decorated with a single acanthus leaf in the shape of a sideways 'S', which terminates on the left side with a bird's head.

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