La salle des pas-perdus a l'ancien Palais de Justice (The antechamber of the Palais de Justice, Paris, Reproduction after the original by Jacques Anrouet Du Cerceau)

Charles Meryon

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print was made by Charles Meryon in the 19th century to reproduce the original print by Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau that was made around 1561, but likely never completed to his own satisfaction. Only a few impressions of the original plate have survived. Du Cerceau was a much sought after printmaker during the 19th century and several of his more rare sheets were reproduced for collectors. It depicts the antechamber of the Palace of Justice in Paris, which was destroyed by fire in the early 17th century.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art