Gnarled Tree

Roelandt Savery

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In a dense woodland swamp a dead tree is overtaken by one that is thriving, abundant with foliage. They twist into a wild tangle of roots and branches rendered with lively and intricate lines. A trio of tiny travelers, tucked beyond the trees, makes their way along a hilly path. A freely-etched dog bounds forward beside them. Savery may have drawn inspiration for this scene during the time that he spent traveling and sketching the landscape of the Tyrolean Alps. Savery made only three prints. This is an inky impression of the first state the etching. The artist’s name was inscribed on the print in the second state.

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