Candelabra Grotesque with a Winged Female Term on a Pedestal

Candelabra Grotesque with a Winged Female Term on a Pedestal

Anonymous, Italian, 16th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candelabra grotesque, copied after a print published by Cornelis Bos around 1540. The design is characterized by a pedestal with stairs on either side, upon which a winged female term has been placed. She holds onto acanthus scrolls which meander towards the left and right side of the page. The term is flanked by sphinxes with wreaths of fruit on their heads. Aside from the decoration of the pedestal, the print has been copied in full.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candelabra Grotesque with a Winged Female Term on a PedestalCandelabra Grotesque with a Winged Female Term on a PedestalCandelabra Grotesque with a Winged Female Term on a PedestalCandelabra Grotesque with a Winged Female Term on a PedestalCandelabra Grotesque with a Winged Female Term on a Pedestal

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.