Series of Cartouches, in: Targhe ed altri ornati di varie e capricciose invenzioni (Cartouches and other ornaments of various and capricious invention, page 53)

Cornelis Bos

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Page from an album with 54 prints, 40 of which come from a series published by Carlo Losi in Rome in 1773. For some reason often overlooked, these prints actually reproduce16th-century designs attributed to the enigmatic French artist Georges Reverdy and the better-known Netherlandish artist Jacob Floris. All copies are in reverse. In some cases they are combined with the originals in this album. Several pages in the album are empty, indicating that some prints may have been taken out at some point.

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