John Milton as a Boy

John Milton as a Boy

Giovanni Battista Cipriani

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Milton here wears a doublet and lace collar, costume in fashion when he was a boy. Based on a portrait from life, the engraving was published to illustrate a 1761 edition of John Toland's "Life of Milton" then reissued in Francis Blackburne's "Memoirs of Thomas Hollis" (1780).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

John Milton as a BoyJohn Milton as a BoyJohn Milton as a BoyJohn Milton as a BoyJohn Milton as a Boy

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.