Presentation Drawing of the New Organ Case for the Church of Saint Germain des Prés

Presentation Drawing of the New Organ Case for the Church of Saint Germain des Prés

François Despatis

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This large presentation drawing in pen and ink with wash shows the elevation of a monumental organ in the church of Saint Germain des Près. The organ was built in the seventeenth century, and overtime various structural changes were made to the composition of the musical instrument. The case itself was due for renovation in the second half of the eighteenth century, and this drawing reflects the proposal for the new design. After the French Revolution, however, the Church of Saint Germain des Près was no longer in use, and the organ was transferred to the Church of Saint Eustache. A print of 1801 shows the organ with its new case installed in its new surroundings. It remained there until it was lost in a fire that broke out in the church in December 1844.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Presentation Drawing of the New Organ Case for the Church of Saint Germain des PrésPresentation Drawing of the New Organ Case for the Church of Saint Germain des PrésPresentation Drawing of the New Organ Case for the Church of Saint Germain des PrésPresentation Drawing of the New Organ Case for the Church of Saint Germain des PrésPresentation Drawing of the New Organ Case for the Church of Saint Germain des Prés

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.