Auricular Cartouche with Figures within a Strapwork Frame, from "Veederley Veranderinghe van grotissen ende Compertimenten. Libro Primo"

1556

Not on view

In his early career in Antwerp, the sculptor Cornelis Floris proved himself to be one of the most inventive designers of ornament. He took inspiration from Italian grotesque decorations and developed his very own vocabulary of, often exotic, creatures which inhabit a world of strapwork. Invertebrates and sea creatures play a prominent role in the designs, which illustrates the contemporary taste for the bizarre, but may also have be connected with Antwerp’s success in trade by sea. This particular type of grotesques became characteristic for Antwerp during the 1540s and 1550s, and is sometimes even specifically referred to as Floris grotesques, although several hands can be distinguished in extant designs.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Catalogue Raisonné

References

Title: Auricular Cartouche with Figures within a Strapwork Frame, from "Veederley Veranderinghe van grotissen ende Compertimenten. Libro Primo"
Series/Portfolio: Veederley Veranderinghe van grotissen ende Compertimenten. Libro Primo
Artist: After Cornelis Floris II (Netherlandish, Antwerp before 1514–1575 Antwerp)
Artist: Johannes van Doetecum I (Netherlandish, 1528/32–1605)
Artist: Lucas van Doetecum (Netherlandish, active 1554–72, died before 1589)
Date: 1556
Medium: Etching
Dimensions: Overall: 14 7/16 x 11 7/16 x 5/16 in. (36.6 x 29 x 0.8 cm)
Classifications: Albums, Prints, Ornament & Architecture
Credit Line: Purchase, Anne and Carl Stern Gift, 1959
Object Number: 59.642.32
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

Various Plates of Grotesques from Three Series, Cornelis Floris II Netherlandish, Etching — Various Plates of Grotesques from Three Series
Multiple artists/makers
1554–57

Panel with grotesques, from a set of bed hangings, Cornelis Floris II Netherlandish, Silk, wool, silver and silver-gilt thread (20-22 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.), Netherlandish, Brussels — Panel with grotesques, from a set of bed hangings
related to the prints of Cornelis Floris II
ca. 1550–60

Mary Magdalene at the Foot of the Cross, Master of Rimini, Alabaster, South Netherlandish — Mary Magdalene at the Foot of the Cross
Follower of the Master of Rimini
ca. 1420–30

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

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