Opera Nova Universali intitulata Corona di racammi, page 21 (verso)
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Overall: 8 7/8 x 6 7/8 in. (22.5 x 17.5 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1932
Accession Number
32.54.1(42)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the intricate world of Renaissance ornamentation with this woodcut from *Opera Nova Universali intitolata Corona di racammi (New Universal Work Entitled Crown of Embroider), page 21 verso, created by Venetian printer and engraver Giovanni Andrea Vavassore around 1530. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this modest 8⅞ × 6⅞-inch page exemplifies the explosion of printed pattern books in 16th-century Italy, designed to inspire artisans in embroidery, lace-making, and textile decoration. Vavassore's woodcut technique—carving designs into wooden bl...
About the Artist
Giovanni Andrea Vavassore · 1530–1573
**Giovanni Andrea Vavassore (c. 1490s–1572)** Giovanni Andrea Vavassore, also known as Zoan Andrea or Guadagnino, hailed from Telgate near Bergamo in the Venetian terraferma and established himself in Venice by the early 16th century as a skilled wood engraver. His early life remains sparsely documented, with no records of formal training or mentors, though his initial output as a xylographer rev...