Zéphir

George Cruikshank

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Based on a French print of 1815 titled "Le doyen des Zéphirs, ou Le roi des voltigeurs" (The Dean of the Zéphirs, or King of Vaulters), this British variation caricatures the aging French male ballet dancer Auguste Vestris. The latter's athleticism had, in his youth, gained him fame throughout Europe. Born in Florence, into a large theatrical family, Vestris joined the Paris Opéra in 1776 and became dancing master to Louis XVI. He lived in London during the French Revolution, returned to Paris in 1793, and became an influential teacher after retiring in 1816. As this satire suggests, Vestris was known for his light pirouettes.

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