Banquet in an Arbor

Art Historical Context

This delicate circular drawing captures a lively banquet scene unfolding beneath the leafy canopy of an arbor. Created in the mid-16th to early 17th century by Maerten de Vos or an anonymous Netherlandish artist working in his circle, the composition brings together elegantly dressed men and female nudes in a festive gathering. Rendered in pen and brown ink with graphite on a sheet measuring just under 24 centimeters across, the work’s intimate scale and round format suggest it may have served as a design for a print, decorative plate, or other ornamental object. De Vos was a leading Antwerp ...