Plaque with a Dutch landscape, possibly a view of Kethel

Frederick van Frijtom

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Trained as a painter, Van Frytom is foremost known today for his exquisite blue monochrome depictions of landscapes on faience plaques which were meant to be framed and hung on the wall. Some of his compositions show typically Dutch scenes, such as this view of the river with village tentatively identified as a view of Kethel (now part of Schiedam). Given its vicinity to Delft, in fact the city's church towers are visible in the distance, Van Frytom could easily have sketched this location from life. Even though some pictorial liberty was tken, the artist followed in the Dutch tradition of topographical views such as the Plaisante Plaetsen by Claes Jansz Visscher (1587–1652). Other plaques by Van Frytom are more Italianate in style, such as the rendering of a mountainous landscape with travelers on a bridge (50.211.39).

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art