St. Paul, Hermit

St. Paul, Hermit

Salvator Rosa

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A poet, painter, printmaker, and actor, Rosa was a fascinating, if irascible, figure in early modern Italy, and a prolific, expressive draftsman. This drawing is possibly a study for his painting of Saint Paul in the wilderness, originally commissioned for the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, in Milan. The intensity of the saint’s devotion, with his arms and gaze turned heavenward, is matched by the agitated landscape and the whirling energy of Rosa’s frenetic and impassioned strokes.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.