Candelabra Grotesque with an Hexagonal Pavillion on a Foot

Candelabra Grotesque with an Hexagonal Pavillion on a Foot

Anonymous, Italian, 16th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three quarters of a candelabra grotesque, copied after a print published by Cornelis Bos around 1540. The design is characterized by an architectural structure which can be described as an hexagonal pavillion. Within it a female figure has been placed who holds on to meandering acanthus scrolls. The pavillion is supported by a foot to which to satyrs have been tied. On the verso a frame is visible characterized by a broad, dark outer rim and a fine line on the inside.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candelabra Grotesque with an Hexagonal Pavillion on a FootCandelabra Grotesque with an Hexagonal Pavillion on a FootCandelabra Grotesque with an Hexagonal Pavillion on a FootCandelabra Grotesque with an Hexagonal Pavillion on a FootCandelabra Grotesque with an Hexagonal Pavillion on a Foot

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.