Horizontal Panel Design with a Man and Two Fantastical Creatures Interspersed between an Acanthus Rinceau
17th century (first half)
Medium
Pen and brown ink over leadpoint
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 3/16 x 10 1/8 in. (18.3 x 25.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number
66.602.11(1)
Tags
About this artwork
This ornamental design presents a horizontal decorative panel featuring a human figure and two hybrid creatures emerging from elaborate acanthus scrollwork. The composition demonstrates the characteristic grotesque style of Venetian decorative arts, where fantastical beings with human upper bodies transition into vegetal lower forms composed of curling acanthus leaves. The drawing combines precise linear work with the fluidity of organic forms, creating a rhythmic pattern suitable for architectu...
About the Artist
Polifilo Giancarli|Anonymous, Italian, Venetian, 17th century (Italian|Italian) · 1600 |1573 –1625 |1638
active in Venice ca. 1600–1625|Italian, Bologna 1573–1637/38 Venice