Cartouche in the Form of a Horned Monster's Head in Near Profile View.
1604–87
Medium
Pen and brown ink, over traces of graphite
Dimensions
sheet: 6 3/4 x 4 1/8 in. (17.1 x 10.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1971
Accession Number
1971.513.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, where Colonna's *Cartouche in the Form a Horned Monster's in Near Profile View* (ca. 1604–87) captivates with its whimsical grotesquerie. This intimate sheet, measuring just 6 3/4 x 4 1/8 inches, showcases the Italian architect and designer's mastery of ornamental fantasy. Colonna, active in early 17th-century Rome was renowned for his intricate engravings and drawings inspired by ancient Roman motifs rediscovered during the Renaissance. Executed in pen and brown ink over faint graphite traces, the work depicts a snar...