Design for a Bed
1565–70
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 9/16 × 7 3/4 in. (14.2 × 19.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Herbert Mitchell, 2008
Accession Number
2018.839.58.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, a leading French architect, designer, and printmaker of the Renaissance, created this delicate etching around 1565–70 as part of his influential series of furniture designs. Working during the reign of Charles IX, du Cerceau specialized in translating grand architectural and decorative ideas into accessible printed form. His work helped shape the elegant, ornamented style that defined French court interiors in the sixteenth century. The sheet presents an imaginative bed frame richly adorned with classical motifs, columns, and sculptural details. As an etching, the...
About the Artist
Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau · 1510–1585
Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau (c. 1510–1584), born in Paris to a wine merchant, emerged as a pivotal figure in introducing Renaissance architecture to France through his innovative designs and engravings. Trained as an architect, decorator, and engraver, he established a printshop in Orléans around 1549, where he began producing influential suites of engravings, starting with triumphal arches. His...