Drury Lane Theatre

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The first theater on this site opened in 1663 and burned in 1672, to be replaced by a structure probably designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The latter was demolished in 1791 and replaced an expanded and improved building designed by Henry Holland, its interior seen here. After opening in 1794 this structure, which was thought fireproof, survived only until 1809 when it too succumbed to flames, shortly after this print was published. A building designed by Benjamin Wyatt replaced it.

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