A College Scene, or a Fruitless Attempt on the Purse of Old Square-toes

A College Scene, or a Fruitless Attempt on the Purse of Old Square-toes

Edward Williams the Elder

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A scene of a young student in his study asking his father or friend to financially support him during his studies. The man on the left looks into the distance as he decides.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A College Scene, or a Fruitless Attempt on the Purse of Old Square-toesA College Scene, or a Fruitless Attempt on the Purse of Old Square-toesA College Scene, or a Fruitless Attempt on the Purse of Old Square-toesA College Scene, or a Fruitless Attempt on the Purse of Old Square-toesA College Scene, or a Fruitless Attempt on the Purse of Old Square-toes

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.