Design for a Fountain with Rivergods and Nymphs
1511–74
Medium
Pen with medium and dark brown ink, brush and gray wash, highlighted with white gouache, over graphite. Traces of framing outlines in pen with brown and black ink
Dimensions
sheet: 15 3/16 x 9 13/16 in. (38.6 x 25 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.597.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the Renaissance world of Giorgio Vasari this exquisite *Design for a Fountain with Rivergods and Ns* (ca. 1511–74), a preparatory drawing that captures the artist's visionary flair. Vasari, the famed painter, architect, and biographer of artists, sketched muscular river gods and graceful nymphs entwined around a fantastical fountain. These mythological figures, rendered in dynamic male and female nudes, evoke the classical ideals of antiquity revived during Italy's High Renaissance, symbolizing the life-giving power of water in opulent gardens or palaces. Crafted on a sheet measurin...
About the Artist
Giorgio Vasari · 1511–1574
Vasari was a productive court artist and architect in Florence during the first half of the 16th century, with his primary patrons being Alessandro and Ippolito de' Medici, until 1537 with the death of Alessandro. However, he is most well known for his book "Le vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori Italiani," which was first published in 1550, and once again in 1568 in an expand...