Entry of Henri III, King of France and Poland, into Venice

Domenico Zenoi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The French king Henri’s entry into Venice on July 18, 1574, marked the beginning of ten days of festivities. This print gives some idea of the elaborate water spectacle staged to greet him. The ship that carried the king is shown in the center of the fleet. It was one of forty such vessels, each of which is identified on the print according to the guild that sponsored it. Later in the celebrations there were sea races and a tableau of "sea gods" came to play music to Henri. This etching was made the year of the event. A much more ambitious print of the same subject made years later in 1591 (see 2015.53).

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