Constantine defeating the tyrant Maxentius, angels carrying swords fly above

Constantine defeating the tyrant Maxentius, angels carrying swords fly above

Giulio Bonasone

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Inspired in part by Marcantonio's engraving and by the Roman sarcophagus (now in the Villa Medici, Rome) that was one of Raphael's sources for the design, Bonasone shows far less interest in sculptural form. His more lyrical version of the subject is composed of softly modeled figures and flowing surface patterns, such as the curvilinear lines that form the water.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Constantine defeating the tyrant Maxentius, angels carrying swords fly aboveConstantine defeating the tyrant Maxentius, angels carrying swords fly aboveConstantine defeating the tyrant Maxentius, angels carrying swords fly aboveConstantine defeating the tyrant Maxentius, angels carrying swords fly aboveConstantine defeating the tyrant Maxentius, angels carrying swords fly above

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.