Catafalque of Charles XI, King of Sweden, Riddarholm Church, Stockholm

Catafalque of Charles XI, King of Sweden, Riddarholm Church, Stockholm

Sébastien Leclerc I

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

View of Riddarholm church decorated for the funeral of Charles XI, King of Sweden. Catafalque surmounted by the allegory of Eternity and surrounded by four pillars of light. At lower center, two winged skeletons flank a cartouche with the coat of arms of Sweden.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Catafalque of Charles XI, King of Sweden, Riddarholm Church, StockholmCatafalque of Charles XI, King of Sweden, Riddarholm Church, StockholmCatafalque of Charles XI, King of Sweden, Riddarholm Church, StockholmCatafalque of Charles XI, King of Sweden, Riddarholm Church, StockholmCatafalque of Charles XI, King of Sweden, Riddarholm Church, Stockholm

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.