Lower Portion of the Entryway to the Right Portal (Die Porten des Adels); and the Outer Right Sockel of the Central Portal, from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18

Lower Portion of the Entryway to the Right Portal (Die Porten des Adels); and the Outer Right Sockel of the Central Portal, from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18

Albrecht Dürer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The sockel decorated with a shield-bearer to the archduke, a meerkat and a giant snail are by Albrecht Dürer; and the pedestal and entryway with flanking columns are by Hans Springinklee or Wolf Traut

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lower Portion of the Entryway to the Right Portal (Die Porten des Adels); and the Outer Right Sockel of the Central Portal, from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18Lower Portion of the Entryway to the Right Portal (Die Porten des Adels); and the Outer Right Sockel of the Central Portal, from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18Lower Portion of the Entryway to the Right Portal (Die Porten des Adels); and the Outer Right Sockel of the Central Portal, from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18Lower Portion of the Entryway to the Right Portal (Die Porten des Adels); and the Outer Right Sockel of the Central Portal, from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18Lower Portion of the Entryway to the Right Portal (Die Porten des Adels); and the Outer Right Sockel of the Central Portal, from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18

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.