Florizel and Perdita – "The Winter's Tale," from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 4

Florizel and Perdita – "The Winter's Tale," from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 4

Lumb Stocks

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Illustrating act 4, scene 4 of Shakespeare's play, this image shows Perdita, a shepherd's adopted daughter, welcoming two strangers with flowers–seated at right, they are Polixenes and Camillo, the king of Bohemia and a courtier, who have arrived disguised to stop the prince from marrying a shepherd girl (unknown to all, Perdita is, in fact, also of noble birth). Standing next to Perdita, Florizel gazes at his beloved, not yet aware of his father's presence. After being commissioned by the manufacturer and collector John Sheepshanks (1787–1863), Leslie's related painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1837 with a pendant titled, "Falstaff and His Friends," from "The Merry Wives of WIndsor" (Act 1, Scene 4). Both were presented in 1857 to the Victoria and Albert Museum. See 24.63.1204 for an engraved image of the latter.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Florizel and Perdita – "The Winter's Tale," from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 4Florizel and Perdita – "The Winter's Tale," from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 4Florizel and Perdita – "The Winter's Tale," from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 4Florizel and Perdita – "The Winter's Tale," from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 4Florizel and Perdita – "The Winter's Tale," from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 4

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.