Winged female term, flanked by cranes and above rabbits
Engraving, with an oval-shaped ornamental design with scrolling motifs and grotesque figures on black grounds, likely created by Étienne Delaune before 1573. The print consists of a winged female term, in the center, under a small canopy, surrounded by olive branches, bundles of fruits and leaves, and symmetric motifs: two grasshoppers standing on the canopy, two fuming oil lamps, two swans with butterfly wings, standing on horns flanked by petaloids, forming rosettes, around which scroll snakes, and two rabbits below the term. Most of these motifs are allegories for birth and fertility, possibly also of spring, and together with the olive branches, they might represent an allusion to the promise of abundance brought about by peace.
Artwork Details
- Title: Winged female term, flanked by cranes and above rabbits
- Artist: Etienne Delaune (French, Orléans 1518/19–1583 Strasbourg)
- Date: before 1573
- Medium: Engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet (trimmed): 2 1/8 × 1 9/16 in. (5.4 × 4 cm)
- Classifications: Prints, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1955
- Object Number: 55.660.12
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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