Spechio di pensieri delle belle et Virtudiose donne, page 14 (recto)

Matteo Pagano

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published by Matteo Pagano, Italian, 1515-1588, Venice. From top bottom, and left to right: Design composed of 5 vertical columns. Last 3 columns are divided into 2 equal parts. First column is decorated with alternating pattern of interlace motif and 4-petaled flower. Second column is decorated with black vine that create figure-8 patterns. Third column is decorated with varied patterns of overlapping floral motifs and black diamonds. Fourth column is decorated with a series of black triangles in between 2 different linear patterns. Fifth register is decorated with black triangles and black 4-petaled flowers.

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