Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae: Orpheus (Orpheus in aedibus Card. Burghesij)
16th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 16 5/8 x 13 1/8 in. (42.3 x 33.3 cm) plate: 4 15/16 x 3 1/8 in. (12.5 x 8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1941
Accession Number
41.72(2.164)
Tags
About this artwork
This engraving depicts Orpheus, the legendary singer and poet from Greek mythology, after an antique statue from the Borghese Collection in Rome. Created by an anonymous artist after designs by Philippe Thomassin and published by Antonio Lafreri in the sixteenth century, the print measures approximately sixteen by thirteen inches overall, with a plate size of roughly five by three inches. The inscription "Orpheus in aedibus Card. Burghesij" (Orpheus in the house of Cardinal Borghese) identifies ...
About the Artist
Anonymous|Philippe Thomassin|Antonio Lafreri
In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...