View of an Island with Antique Ruins (The Abduction of Europa), from: Imagini Favolose
Giovanni Battista Pittoni the Elder
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
This etching depicts an antique landscape with at its center an island filled with ruins of Classical architecture. In the foreground at right, two figures are depicted on a different shore, who are seemingly running away. On the right side of the sheet, in the background, another island is depicted, reminiscent of those in the Veneto, and in the water the Greek goddess Europa is being carried away by Zeus in the guise of a bull. The print was made by Giovanni Battista Pittoni the Elder, and is part of a series depicting myths from Classical Antiquity. They were published in 1585 by Francesco Ziletti under the title "Imagini Favolose", but had likely been published previously by Pittoni himself. Pittoni is principally known for his prints depicting landscapes, some after the Venetian artist Titian, but many seemingly of his own design. His prints containing views of ancient Roman architecture were used in Vincenzo Scamozzi’s "Discorsi Sopra L’Antichita di Roma", which is arguably one of Pittoni’s best-known achievements. The "Imagini Favolose" are less famous, but speak to his virtuosity in this particular genre. While the title of the print series indicates that the ancient myths are the subject of the prints, in most cases the landscapes are foregrounded by the artist. On the verso of the sheet part of a sixteenth-century drawing in pen and ink with wash is visible. The subject of the drawing is close to that of the print and shows several figures in a landscape with a grotto. The unidentified draftsman has made annotations to indicate the use of color to work out the landscape in paint.
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.