Frieze with Consoles, Putti, and Garlands (Recto); Fragment of Architectural design (Verso)
17th century
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, over traces of graphite underdrawing and ruled construction
Dimensions
sheet: 3 3/8 x 12 3/8 in. (8.5 x 31.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1952
Accession Number
52.570.52
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite 17th-century Italian drawing, created anonymously, captures the exuberant spirit of Baroque ornamentation on its recto side with a frieze featuring consoles, playful putti (cherubic figures), and flowing garlands. The verso reveals a fragment of an architectural design, showcasing the sheet's dual purpose in an artist's studio. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this work measures a modest 3 3/8 x 12 3/8 inches, yet it brims with dynamic energy typical of Italy's Golden Age of decorative arts. Executed in pen and brown ink with brush and ...