False Courage

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A dueling subject. The man at right kneels and fires a pistol, while his opponent drops his weapon. At left, the duelist's second looks through an eye-glass in alarm, while the second crosses his arms and smiles. In the background, a doctor opens his mouth and spreads his arms in alarm, as his assistant fumbles with a bag holding medical implements. There is a carriage in the background with an open door, and two horses, with two grooms seated on their backs. The scene is set in a park or on a heath.

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