Catherine of Braganza

Catherine of Braganza

William Faithorne the Elder

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Faithorned based this print on a portrait that Dirk Stoop painted of the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganaza in 1661 as her marriage to King Charles II was being negotiated--the painting was then sent to England. Catherine wears a dress of Portuguese fashion with a wide flat lace collar and wide skirts. She arrived in Portsmouth on May 13, 1662 and the marriage took place on May 21. Faithorne's engraving was made around this time to satisfy English curiosity about Catherine's appearance.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Catherine of BraganzaCatherine of BraganzaCatherine of BraganzaCatherine of BraganzaCatherine of Braganza

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.