Candelabra Grotesque with a Female Figure in a Niche and Two Sphinxes

Anonymous, Italian, 16th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candelabra grotesque, copied after a print made by Cornelis Metsys around 1545. The design is characterized by a strapwork structure in which various figures are placed. On the bottom, two river gods are depicted in the corners of the page. In the middle a female figure, possibly a Victory, is standing in a niche, flanked by terms. The terms support a panel with two birds and Bacchus in an oval compartment. On top of the panel, two sphinxes are depicted. The structure is crowned by an arch with a decorative mask. On ether side of the arch, a vase has been placed.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art