A wild-haired, robed woman rushing to the right, seen from behind

A wild-haired, robed woman rushing to the right, seen from behind

Cornelis Saftleven

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A woman in a long, loose robe and cloth cap energetically leans forward. Her wiry hair and the strings of her cap fly in the air along with movement. The woman may have been intended to represent a witch. Saftleven is known for his scenes of sorcerers and drawings of hellish creatures. A prolific draftsman and painter, created numerous independent single figure studies in black chalk. Many of them depict figures from behind or with their face somehow covered like the Met's "Boy Sleeping Outdoors" (2008.152).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A wild-haired, robed woman rushing to the right, seen from behindA wild-haired, robed woman rushing to the right, seen from behindA wild-haired, robed woman rushing to the right, seen from behindA wild-haired, robed woman rushing to the right, seen from behindA wild-haired, robed woman rushing to the right, seen from behind

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.