Serenade at the Tuileries on New Year's Eve, from "Illustrated London News"

Serenade at the Tuileries on New Year's Eve, from "Illustrated London News"

Eugène-Louis Lami

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Members of the National Guard troop through the Tuileries Gardens early on New Year's morning and pause infront of the palace to perform out of respect to Emperor Napoléon III. Related text suggests that the loud noise of brass and drums were not welcomed by Parisians, coming so close on the heels of New Year's Eve celebrations. Lami, who designed the image had studied with Horace Vernet and Antoine-Jean Gros and was known for his military subjects. The "Illustrated London News" here demonstrates their interest in keeping English readers up-to-date about events of interest in the French capital.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Serenade at the Tuileries on New Year's Eve, from "Illustrated London News"Serenade at the Tuileries on New Year's Eve, from "Illustrated London News"Serenade at the Tuileries on New Year's Eve, from "Illustrated London News"Serenade at the Tuileries on New Year's Eve, from "Illustrated London News"Serenade at the Tuileries on New Year's Eve, from "Illustrated London News"

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.