Cynthia Cenone butterfly card from the Butterflies and Moths of America series
1862–69
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 in. × 2 1/2 in. (10.2 × 6.4 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
Burdick 628, W6.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the enchanting world of 19th natural history with the *Cynthia Cenone butterfly card* from Louis Prang & Co.'s *Butterflies and M of America* series (1862–69). This delicate lithograph, measuring just 4 × 2½ inches, captures the intricate beauty of the Cynthia Cenone butterfly in vivid color. Produced by Louis Prang & Co., American printers renowned for chromolithography—a technique that allowed affordable, high-quality color reproductions—these cards brought the wonders of entomology to everyday audiences. Lithography, perfected in the mid-1800s, enabled Prang to layer multiple col...
About the Artist
Louis Prang & Co. · 1800–1950
Louis Prang & Co. was the Boston printing firm that introduced the Christmas card to the American public and elevated chromolithography to the level of a serious art form. Its founder, Louis Prang (1824–1909), was born in Breslau, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland), where he trained as a cloth printer and dyer. After participating in revolutionary activity against the Prussian government, he fled first...