Spechio di pensieri delle belle et Virtudiose donne, page 9 (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(17)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This woodcut by Matteo Pagano from the 1546 publication *Spechio di pensieri delle belle et Virtudiose donne*, a Renaissance pattern book designed to inspire in the decorative arts. Printed on a modest page measuring just over eight by five inches the work exemplifies the period’s growing interest in accessible printed designs for embroidery, lace, and household ornament. Pagano, a printer and woodcut artist active in Venice, specialized in such instructional volumes that brought elegant motifs to a wider audience beyond court circles. As a woodcut, the page demonstrates the technique’s crisp...
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 ...