Valentine
before 1880
Medium
White card stock with chromolithography, gold lithography, openwork lace paper
Dimensions
Width: 6 in. (15.2 cm) Length: 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm)
Classification
Ephemera|Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Richard Riddell, 1981
Accession Number
1981.1136.827
Art Historical Context
This delicate "Valentine," created anonymously before 1880 exemplifies the charming ephemera of Victorian-era romance. Crafted on white card stock measuring 6 by 7⅜ inches, it was designed as a sentimental greeting for Valentine's Day, a holiday that surged in popularity during the th century. Mass-produced cards like this one democratized expressions of love, allowing ordinary people to send heartfelt messages adorned with elaborate designs, often featuring hearts, flowers, and poetic verses. The artwork showcases innovative printing techniques of the time: chromolithography for vibrant, mul...
About the Artist
Anonymous
In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...