Design for the Cast Iron Gate of Castle ‘s-Gravenwezel (Belgium)

Design for the Cast Iron Gate of Castle ‘s-Gravenwezel (Belgium)

Jan Pieter van Baurscheidt the Younger

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Design for one of the entrance gates to the Medieval castle of ‘s-Gravenwezel by the sculptor/architect Jan Pieter van Baurscheidt the Younger. Depicted on the sheet are a frontal view of the gate, and its floorplan which detail its construction made up out of two stone pillars crowned by vases and cast-iron fence-work, all decorated with rocaille ornaments. Below the floorplan, a scale has been added accompanied by the inscription ‘Schaele van 21 voeten Antwerpsche Maete’ (Scale of 21 feet [in] Antwerp measurements).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Design for the Cast Iron Gate of Castle ‘s-Gravenwezel (Belgium)Design for the Cast Iron Gate of Castle ‘s-Gravenwezel (Belgium)Design for the Cast Iron Gate of Castle ‘s-Gravenwezel (Belgium)Design for the Cast Iron Gate of Castle ‘s-Gravenwezel (Belgium)Design for the Cast Iron Gate of Castle ‘s-Gravenwezel (Belgium)

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.