Spechio di pensieri delle belle et Virtudiose donne, page 5 (verso)
1546
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Overall: 8 1/16 x 5 7/8 in. (20.5 x 15 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1937
Accession Number
37.54(9)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, where we encounter *Spechio di pensieri delle belle Virtudiose donne, 5 (verso)*, a delicate woodcut by Matteo Pagano from 1546. This page, measuring just 8 1/16 x 5 7/8 inches, hails from a Venetian Renaissance publication whose title translates to "Mirror Thoughts of Beautiful and Virt Women." Pagano, prominent printer and designer in mid-16th-century Venice crafted this as part of a book blending ornamentation with moralistic themes, celebrating feminine ideals through elegant designs. Woodcuts like this were revol...
About the Artist
Matteo Pagano · 1515–1588
**Matteo Pagano (c. 1515–1588)** was a prominent Venetian printer, publisher, woodcut artist, and illustrator whose innovative designs bridged fine art and the decorative crafts during the Renaissance. Little is known about his early life, which remains sparsely documented, but he began his career as a woodblock cutter, working for the publisher Nicolò Zoppino on pattern books before establishing ...