Surface Decoration, Grotesque with Strapwork, Including Three Cartouches from series of Surface Decorations, Grotesques with Strapwork with Maxims by Six Wise Men of Greece
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 12 x 8 1/16 in. (30.5 x 20.5 cm)
Classification
Books
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1931
Accession Number
31.76.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intricate etching, titled *Surface Decoration, Grotesque with Strwork, Including Three Cart*, hails from 1554 and showcases the collaborative genius of Antwerp masters: engravers Johannes and Lucas van Doetecum, designer Cornelis Floris II, and publisher Hieronymus. Part of a series on surface decorations, it features whimsical grotesques—fantastical motifs of intertwined vines, mythical creatures, and birds—framed by bold strapwork, those scrolling, leather-like bands emblematic of emerging Mannerist style. Nestled within three ornate cartouches are maxims from the Six Wise Men of Greece...
About the Artist
Johannes van Doetecum I|Lucas van Doetecum|Cornelis Floris II|Hieronymus Cock (Netherlandish|Netherlandish) · 1528 |1527 –1605 |1606
Netherlandish, 1528/32–1605|Netherlandish, Leeuwarden 1527–1606 (?) Antwerp (?)