Trionfo Di Virtu. Libro Novo..., page 18 (recto)

Art Historical Context

Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's and Prints collection, where Matteo Pagano's *Trionfo Di Virtu. Libro..., page 18 (o)* (1563) captivates with its Renaissance whimsy. This woodcut print, measuring 9 13/16 x 7 7/8 inches, comes from a Venetian publication blending allegory and ornament. Pagano, a skilled printer-engraver active in mid-16th-century Venice, specialized in books disseminating decorative motifs for artists and architects. The recto page bursts with eclectic imagery—men, chickens, pigs, and ships—arranged in a fantastical composition classified under ornament and archite...

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 ...