The Attributes of the Virgin

The Attributes of the Virgin

Ramón Bayeu y Subías

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The print is one of a pair that is based on oil studies for frescoes in the apse over the presbytery of the Queen's Oratorio int he Palace at Aranjuez by the artist's brother Francisco from around 1778. The prints show the clear influence of Tiepolo, but the lightness of the technique is also remarkably close to Goya's early etchings from slightly earlier. See José L. Morales y Marín, Francisco Bayeu, vida y obra, Zaragoza, 1995, no. 132; Mark McDonald, Renaissance to Goya: Prints and Drawings from Spain, London 2010, p. 214; Elena Páez Ríos, Repertorio de grabados españoles en la Biblioteca Nacional, 3 vols. Madrid, 1981-83, no. 230-14; Jesusa Vega, Museo del Prado. Catálogo de estampas, Madrid, 1992, no. 34.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Attributes of the VirginThe Attributes of the VirginThe Attributes of the VirginThe Attributes of the VirginThe Attributes of the Virgin

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.