Many contemporary objects manifest the attendant risks and potential joys of bearing offspring.

Volunteer Cataloger Nancy Rosin explores a set of rare Victorian valentines from The Met collection.

This volume and the exhibition it accompanies bring together eighty of the finest masterpieces in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon. All of the works of art are richly illustrated in color and described in authoritative texts by the curators of the Gulbenkian Museum. These magnificent pieces, which reflect the renowned art collector Calouste Gulbenkian's eclectic taste, include paintings by Rubens, Fragonard, Gainsborough, Turner, and Manet; silver from services created for the nobility of Russia and Western Europe; Roman medallions; Ottoman ceramics; Japanese lacquerware; jewelry by Lalique; and books and textiles from both East and West. These works of art offer dazzling testimony to Gulbenkian's devotion to the quality of the individual object and to his refined connoisseurship. The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum was created under the terms of Gulbenkian's will in order to preserve under one roof the artworks in his collection—one of the preeminent art assemblages of the first half of the twentieth century. Gulbenkian, a successful businessman who was born in 1869 in Ottoman Turkey to an Armenian family, made his fortune in the oil industry. In April 1942, in the midst of World War II, he arrived in Lisbon seeking a peaceful place to live. Portugal had remained neutral in the conflict that was engulfing the world. Gulbenkian spent the rest of his life in Lisbon, where he died in 1955. As a collector—whether of ancient Egyptian art, Islamic art, or European painting and decorative arts—Gulbenkian acquired "only the best."

Explore European rebuses in The Met collection with Nancy Rosin, a volunteer cataloguer in Drawings and Prints.

Volunteer Cataloger Nancy Rosin highlights a selection of rare, intricate valentines from the 18th and 19th centuries that are now part of The Met collection.

Among The Met's extensive collection of ephemera is a set of valentines by the Victorian artist Kate Greenaway. In honor of Valentine's Day, our resident cataloger of valentines, Nancy Rosin, shares her favorites and discusses their unique artistry.

Maiolica, the refined, white-glazed pottery of the Italian Renaissance, was adapted to all objects that were traditionally ceramic, such as dishes, bowls, serving vessels, and jugs of all shapes and sizes. It was also used as a medium for sculpture and sculptural reliefs, as well as floor and ceiling tiles.

Artist Catherine Opie reflects on the Louis XIV bedroom in this episode of The Artist Project.

Artist Matthew Ritchie reflects on _The Triumph of Fame over Death_ in this episode of The Artist Project.