Valentine
1876
Medium
White card stock with chromolithography, gold lithography, openwork lace paper, pink tissue, pale blue paper, green watercolor
Dimensions
Width: 5 7/8 in. (15 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
1981.1136.822
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the tender world of Victorian romance with *Valentine*, an anonymous1876 greeting card from the Metropolitan Museum Art's Drawings and Prints. Measuring a dainty 5 7/8 by 7 3/8 inches, this ephemera piece captures the sentimental spirit of Valentine's Day exchanges in the late 19th century, when mass-produced cards blossomed as symbols of affection amid strict social norms. Crafted on white card stock, it showcases chromolithography—a vibrant color printing technique that revolutionized affordable, eye-catching illustrations—and gold lithography for a luxurious shimmer. Delicate ope...
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...