Fountain with Neptune and Sea Creatures

Art Historical Context

Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this17th-century Italian drawing, *Fountain with Neptune and Creatures*, captures the grandeur of Baroque ornamental design. Created anonymously by an Italian artist using pen and brown ink heightened with brown wash on a modest sheet measuring 8 1/8 x 10 1/2 inches, it depicts the Roman sea god Neptune amid swirling sea creatures, evoking the dramatic fountains that adorned Italian gardens and piazzas during the era. The medium—precise pen lines for structure and fluid brown wash for depth and shadow—was ideal for ar...