A muse standing in a niche, left arm resting in a ledge
ca. 1531–76
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 6 5/16 x 3 3/8 in. (16 x 8.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.97.296
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giulio Bonasone, a leading Italian engraver of the 16th century from Bologna, created this delicate engraving titled *A Muse Standing in a Niche, Left Arm Resting on a Ledge* around 1531–76. Measuring just 6 5/16 x 3 3/8 inches, the intimate scale invites close viewing, revealing the precision of Bonasone's burin work on a metal plate. Active during the Mannerist era, he often reproduced designs by masters like Raphael and Parmigianino, bridging painting and printmaking to spread Renaissance ideals across Europe. The subject—a graceful muse poised in an architectural niche, her left arm casua...
About the Artist
Giulio Bonasone · 1500–1600
Comment on works: History; Mythology