Vase with a Group of Mermaids, Mermen and Sea Centaurs
17th century (late)
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Plate: 7 1/2 x 4 7/16 in. (19 x 11.3 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.952(1)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This enchanting engraving, *Vase with a Group of Mermaids, M and Sea Centaurs hails from the late th century and brings together the talents of several notable figures: Claes Jansz. Visscher, Renévin, Frederick de Wit and Polidoro daaggio. Measuring a compact 7 1/2 x 4 7/ inches (19 x 11.3 cm), it exemplifies intricate world of prints classified under Ornament & Architecture now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Drawings and Prints department through the generous bequest of Phyllis Massar in 2011. The composition imagines an ornate vase teeming with mythical sea creatures—mermaids, merm...
About the Artist
Claes Jansz. Visscher|René Boyvin|Frederick de Wit|Polidoro da Caravaggio · 1586–1652
Claes Jansz. Visscher, also known as Nicolas Joannis Visscher II or Joannis Piscator, was a prominent Dutch Golden Age draughtsman, engraver, mapmaker, and publisher born in Amsterdam in 1587 and died there on June 19, 1652. The son of the printmaker and publisher Jan Claesz. Visscher (c. 1550–1612), he learned the art of etching and printing from his father, helping to expand the family trade int...